Health microbiologist demonstrates the process for testing a sample for coronavirus at the department's laboratory.
Chinese researchers have found virus that causes novel coronavirus can be found in semen, however, it doesn't gives a definite answer whether it can spread or transmitted during sex, AP reported. According to doctors, 38 patients who were undergoing treatment for coronavirus, 6 of them were found to have COVID-19 causing virus in their semen. JAMA Network Open published this report after research was conducted at Shangqiu Municipal Hospital in China.
How long virus can stay in semen?
It has yet not been found for how long the virus may remain in semen or if it could be transmitted during sex. The results contrast with a study of 34 Chinese men with COVID-19 published last month in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
What US and Chinese researchers found on traces of COVID-19 virus in semen?
US and Chinese researchers found no evidence of virus in semen tested between eight days and almost three months after diagnosis.
Dr. John Hotaling of the University of Utah, co-author of that report, said the new study involved much sicker men, most with active disease. Authorities believe the coronavirus mainly spreads from droplets produced when infected people cough, which are inhaled by people nearby.
Some studies have reported finding the virus in blood, feces and tears or other fluid from COVID-19 patients with inflammation in their eyes. Evidence suggesting that other infectious viruses including Zika and Ebola may be sexually transmitted has prompted questions about the coronavirus.
More research needed for a definite answer
Hotaling said coronavirus is an important public health concern but that there is need for more research to provide a definitive answer.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine said the new study shouldn’t be cause for alarm. To be safe, though, “it may be wise to avoid sexual contact with men until they are 14 days without symptoms,” Dr. Peter Schlegel, the group's immediate past president, said in a statement.
(With inputs from AP)
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