As months pass by and the whole world fights against the coronavirus disease, researchers and the medical community are learning more about it.
Traces of SARS-CoV-2 in semen
Recently, researchers in China have reported traces of SARS-CoV-2 in the semen of patients with COVID-19 and those who recovered. Because of this, they suggested that COVID-19 might be transmitted sexually.
Medical and research professionals collaborated to collect semen samples from men who were infected by the virus in February, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China.
According to Dr. James Hotaling, Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah in its Division of Urology, also part of the said collaboration, researchers observed the semen samples on an average of 30 days after they were recovered. About 38 men who were infected by the virus showed no evidence of COVID in any semen samples.
In this study, the male patients showed only mild to moderate symptoms of the disease. In another study, in a smaller hospital, medical researchers looked at another set of patients. The patients, 50 in total, were quite sick, and 12 were either in a state of coma or are dead, as explained by Dr. Hotaling.
Dr. Hotaling also added that from the remaining 38 of those 50 patients - who were not unconscious or dead - researchers discovered that 6 of them have COVID in their semen. Four from those six patients were hospitalized when they collected the samples.
Can the virus be transmitted sexually?
The answer to whether or not coronavirus disease or COVID-19 can be transmitted sexually depends on the question you want to be answered, as medical professionals say.
If you want to know whether you can transmit the disease through your semen after recovering from the said disease, Dr. Hotaling said that their study would answer no. However, if you are having sexual relations when you are sick of the illness, then you may be able to transmit it through your semen, as the other study implies.
Although the coronavirus was discovered in a small sample size of semen in this study, this does not necessarily equate to the virus itself being sexually transmitted.
Having sex during the COVID-19 pandemic
Governments are advising people to stay indoors, limiting physical contact with others to avoid the spread of the virus, since the disease can be passed on through droplets when you cough or even breathe out.
Although it cannot be transmitted sexually, the virus can be transmitted by mere kissing, and even more so by having sex.
It is crucial to understand that when you or your partner have COVID-19 symptoms, you must not kiss or have sex. But if both of you are not experiencing any symptoms, and are living together, then it is OK. However, if you decide on having sex with someone you are not living with or does not live with you, you should take precautions to reduce the risk of receiving or spreading the COVID-19. It is also essential to get in touch with your sexual health provider for information.
The best way to be safe and protect yourself from the virus is to stay at home, decreasing the risk of transmission. Also, take note that even if you show no symptoms, you can still be a carrier of the virus.
