Researchers are working to see if coronavirus can be 'shed' through sexual activity or by contact with semen in study carried at China's Shangqiu Municipal Hospital. Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox. Coronavirus has been found in sperm samples in a laboratory study, adding to fears it can be spread through sex.
Initially the killer virus was thought only to be passed on in water droplets through coughs and sneezes, but now evidence is mounting to suggest it can also be sexually transmitted. Chinese researchers tested sperm of men infected with Covid and say they found a significant number had coronavirus particles in their semen. The study, the results of which were announced on Thursday, was carried out by doctors at China's Shangqiu Municipal Hospital who took samples from 38 men hospitalised with the Covid Last month researchers at the University of Utah said the theory that Covid might be sexually transmitted remains a possibility and the new research only adds weight to that.
Chinese researchers now say yet more research is needed to see whether sexual transmission might play a role in the spreading Covid pandemic. However some independent experts said the findings were interesting, but should be viewed with caution as other small studies did not find coronavirus in sperm. Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at Britain's Sheffield University, said the studies should not be seen as conclusive, since there were some technical difficulties in testing semen for viruses.
Sheena Lewis, a professor of reproductive medicine at Queen's University Belfast, stressed that this was a "very small study" and said its findings were in keeping with other small studies showing low or no SARS-CoV-2 in tests of semen samples.
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