Avoid sex, experts are warning for at least 30 days after victims fully recovers from coronavirus, this is because about 16% of men surveyed had traces of COVID-19 in their semen.
The advice comes after a Chinese study found that not only saliva but semen may carry the virus.
Veerawat Manosutthi, a senior medical expert at the Thai Disease Control Department, is suggesting celibacy for 30 days once someone seems clear of the bug, according to Insider.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), took semen samples from 38 male patients with COVID-19 in China’s Henan province, which borders Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated.
Researchers who analyzed the samples on January 26 and again on February 16 found that about 16% of the men surveyed had traces of COVID-19 in their semen.
They said while they are still unsure whether the illness can be sexually transmitted, it was safer for people to take precautions.
This is because other nonsexually transmitted diseases, such as Zika and Ebola, have been proven to spread through sex in the past.
The team of scientists wrote: “The presence of viruses in semen may be more common than currently understood, and traditional nonsexually transmitted viruses should not be assumed to be totally absent in genital secretions.”
The novel coronavirus is principally spread through droplets of saliva, but it isn’t yet clear whether the virus is replicated in men’s testicles.
The JAMA study suggests it could be that traces of the virus were found in semen because of the imperfect barrier between the bloodstream and the part of the testicles where semen is made.
Therefore the virus may have found its way from the blood into the semen.
Manosutthi went on to say that, after the 30 days of no sex, men who’ve recovered from COVID-19 should wear a condom when they become active in that department again.
