You might have read the headlines earlier this month that the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in semen. Is that true — and if it is, does that mean COVID-19 can be transmitted sexually?
The short answers to those questions are yes, and we don’t know yet.
Several viruses that aren’t thought of as sexually transmitted can be found in semen.
JAMA recently published a short article about a small study conducted in China. The authors took semen from 38 people who were either recovered from COVID-19 or still in the throes of infection. Of those 38 people, six were found to have the novel coronavirus hiding out in their semen — adding semen to the list of bodily fluids in which the virus can lurk, including saliva, urine, and feces.
This study is too limited to make sweeping generalizations, but it does seem to show that it’s possible — though perhaps not overwhelmingly likely — for someone suffering from COVID-19 to be none the wiser as the virus wends its way to the body’s southern hemisphere, where it can hang out in the testes. Plus, the virus was detected not just in people with active disease, but also in people who had recovered, raising the possibility that someone can carry the virus below the belt even after symptoms are gone. Continue reading