Could the coronavirus be transmitted sexually, even after the symptoms have disappeared? A team of Chinese researchers has found that the sperm of several people who contracted Covid-19 contains traces of the virus, even in patients in remission.
This study, published Thursday by the American scientific journal Journal of American Medical Association, was carried out by researchers of Beijing on 38 men passed by the hospital of Shangqiu, in the province of Henan.
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Out of 15 patients with severe symptoms of the infection, four had traces of the virus in their seminal secretions, more than a quarter (25.6%). This was also the case for two of the 23 other patients, tested three days after the disappearance of their symptoms (8.7%).
New tracks
So far, traces of the coronavirus have already been detected in saliva, urine and stool. This study, the scope of which is, by the authors’ own admission, “limited by the small sample size”, therefore opens up new avenues “for a better understanding of this virus”, underlines Antoine Flahault, director of the ‘Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva.
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Before Covid-19, several viruses had already been found in the sperm of infected men, like Zika and chikungunya. Several elements remain unresolved, however. Only patients with severe symptoms have been tested. Do asymptomatic people also carry traces of the virus in their seminal secretions? And how long can the virus survive in sperm?
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