Coronavirus could be spread through sex, experts now fear after they detected the infection in the semen of recovering men.
Researchers in China analysed semen samples from 38 men who tested positive for COVID-19. Some had recovered while others were infectious.
One in six had traces of the coronavirus in their semen – including those who were no longer sick.
Top infectious disease experts admitted the findings were ‘not surprising’ because viruses such as Zika and Ebola are present in semen samples.
The Chinese study did not prove that the virus could be transmitted through sex – it only suggested it was a possibility.
But the finding prompted the team to warn that abstaining from sex while infected – and during recovery – would likely be a wise decision until the truth is uncovered.
So far 3.7million cases of COVID-19 – the disease caused by the coronavirus – have been reported globally.
But that figure is only a fraction of the truth because it does not include the millions who have suffered mild disease and recovered at home without being tested.
The study was done at Shangqiu Municipal Hospital, the only designated centre for the treatment of COVID-19 in Shangqiu, Henan province.
Men over the age of 15 who had tested positive for the virus between January 26 and February 16 gave semen samples.
Of the 38 men, 15 (39.5 per cent) were in the acute stage of infection. The rest had recovered.
