Can novel coronavirus be transmitted by sexuality ?

What's going on: Chinese researchers have found a novel coronavirus COVID-19 in the semen of infected people, which may be transmitted through sexuality.

Appraisal result: to be proved

A team of experts from the respiratory department of Nanlou, the nephrology department of the General Hospital of the people's Liberation Army, the nephrology Research Institute of the people's Liberation Army, Chaoyang Hospital of Beijing and Shangqiu Municipal Hospital of Henan Province tested the semen of 38 male infected patients in Shangqiu Municipal Hospital of Henan Province. The genetic material of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 was detected in the semen of 6 patients, accounting for about 16% 。 The paper points out that four of the patients with positive semen samples are in the acute stage of novel coronavirus infection. In particular, two other patients who were positive for the virus were in recovery.

The researchers pointed out that there were some shortcomings in this study, such as small sample size and short follow-up time. Therefore, the detailed information about the shedding, survival time and concentration of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in semen need further study.

Some medical experts said that this is only a preliminary study, but there are still many problems to be further explored, such as how much viral load there is in the sperm and whether the virus can be transmitted through sexuality.