Corona Virus Found In Semen, But Not Transmitted Through Sexual Intercourse

Illustrations (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Scientists are still researching how the new corona virus or COVID-19 can spread between humans. So far, the virus has been detected in human saliva, urine and feces. Recent research has found that the corona virus can survive in semen. So, can this virus be spread through sex?

The New York Times reported that the latest fact comes from researchers in China. They tested the semen of 38 patients at the Shangqiu City Hospital (RS), Henan. All subjects were taken from people who tested positive for the corona and were between the ages of 15 and 59 years.

As a result, researchers detected about 16 percent of the genetic material for the corona virus in six patients. Meanwhile the four patients whose semen tested positive were in the acute infection stage, said Doctor Weiguo Zhao from the Eighth Medical Center of the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing and Doctor Shixi Zhang from the Shangqiu City Hospital.

Meanwhile, two more people are currently recovering. When tested, one patient even had 16 days since first showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Can COVID-19 be transmitted through sex?

Since the beginning of the outbreak, public health experts have warned that the corona virus can be transmitted through kissing. But they don't believe the virus can be sexually transmitted.

Fortunately, recent research has not contradicted this. The research was published on Thursday by the JAMA Network Open, a free-access medical journal. This research does not prove that the corona virus can be transmitted through sexual activity.

Even though there is semen that has tested positive for the corona, according to the University of Iowa Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Pediatrics, Stanley Perlman, it does not mean that there is a virus that can be transmitted. "This is an interesting finding, but it must be confirmed that there is a contagious virus," he told the New York Times.

Parlman explained that the corona virus is not like Zika which is carried in the blood. Corona infects people through the oral or respiratory route.

To date, there is no evidence that a person is infected through sexual contact. However, transmission during sex is very possible but in the usual way, namely through droplets or droplets of people infected with COVID-19.