DOCTORS FIND TRACES OF CORONA VIRUS IN SEMEN; RAISES QUESTIONS WHETHER IT CAN BE SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED!

As the spread of the novel coronavirus is increasing by the hour, several doctors and scientists have admitted that there is only very little that we know of this new virus. A new study in China revealed on Friday that some men, who had tested positive for the infection, were found to have traces of the virus in their semen. This has raised concerns as it opens up the possibility of this virus being sexually transfmitted.

From the 38 men who were tested as COVID-19  positive cases in China’s Shangqiu Municipal Hospital, 16% tested positive for the virus in their semen. Although this research was conducted only on a small proportion of people, more research is expected to surface before confirming the possibility. “Further studies are required with respect to the detailed information about virus shedding, survival time and concentration in semen,” the team confessed in a study published in JAMA Network Open. “If it could be proved that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually ... (that) might be a critical part of the prevention,” they added, “especially considering the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the semen of recovering patients.”

Allan Pacey, a professor of Andrology at Britain’s Sheffield University, said that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sperm did not show if it is active and capable of causing infection.

“However, we should not be surprised if the virus which causes COVID-19 is found in the semen of some men, since this has been shown with many other viruses such as Ebola and Zika,” he said.