unknown, according to the CDC, whether the disease can be transmitted sexually.

3d illustration of sperm cells or spermatozoon moving to the left side

It is unknown whether COVID-19 can be transmitted by semen.

Getty

KEY FACTS

In the study, originally published on JAMA Network Open and conducted in Shangqiu, China, six patients—15.8%—of 38 COVID-19-positive males had the virus in their semen.

Four of those men with COVID-19 in their semen were at the acute stage of infection, while the other two had already recovered.

The research neither confirms nor denies whether the virus can be sexually transmitted: researchers did not follow up with the participants to determine duration of coronavirus in their semen and whether the men had spread it to their sexual partners. 

On the contrary, another small study conducted by Chinese and American researchers with 34 men in Wuhan, China, found the subjects’ semen to be coronavirus-free after a median of 31 days, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s Fertility and Sterility journal.

A co-author of the Wuhan study told the Associated Press that patients of the Shangqiu study were sicker and actively ill, which could explain the differing results. 

“We are learning about this virus on a daily basis…People should be practicing abstinence or safe sex after being sick,” Dr. Anne Rimoin, a professor of epidemiology who focuses on infectious disease spread at UCLA’s Geffen School of Medicine, advised in a CNN interview on the subject.

Key Background

Experts believe that coronavirus is primarily spread by respiratory droplets passed via direct ingestion—like in conversation or a kiss—or from a surface infected by a coronavirus-positive individual’s spit, cough or sneeze fluids. The disease, however, can also spread in the air and by accidental ingestion of feces. Experts warn there may still be other methods of transmission, as they continue to learn and understand the virus in real-time. In addition to semen, the CDC says it is unknown whether the virus can spread through vomit, urine and breast milk. 

Further Reading

Clinical Characteristics and Results of Semen Tests Among Men With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (JAMA Open Network)

Coronavirus detected in semen; it’s still unknown whether virus can be sexually transmitted (Associated Press via Los Angeles Times)

No evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen of males recovering from COVID-19 (Fertility and Sterility)

Clinical Questions about COVID-19: Questions and Answers (CDC)

Why You Should Flush With The Lid Down: Experts Warn Of Fecal-Oral Transmission Of COVID-19 (Forbes)

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