The semen of six men out of 38 respondents in a small study in Shangqui Municipal Hospital was found to have traces of SARS-Cov-2 or the virus that causes COVID-19. The result of the preliminary study raises the question of whether COVID-19 could be sexually transmitted as well.
The result of the study is significant most especially because the traces of the virus are found in the semen of recovered patients. The study, although small and preliminary, may shed light on different means of transmission that may go undetected.
The next step would be to determine how the virus shed and survive in semen. Experts should also look into the concentration of semen and its correlation to when the infection is higher and disease contagious.
Still, Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at Britain's Sheffield University, warned that people should note that the study is not conclusive. There are still significant technichal barriers in testing semen for viruses and this applies not just to coronavirus.
Pacey said although the virus was detected in semen, the study did not show whether it is active. This raises the question of whether virus that stayed in the semen is infectious.
He added that the finding should not be surprising at all since previous studies showed that Ebola and Zika are also found in the semen of infected individuals.
Sheena Lewis, a professor of reproductive medicine at Queen's University Belfast, dismissed the study as "very small." She also noted that it is actually consistent with other studies showing that other viruses are found in semen.
If there is anything that this present study proved it is that there remains to be a lot that is unknown about COVID-19.
Just recently, a study of more than 7,500 people with COVID-19 showed that the virus spread rapidly from China to Europe and worldwide as early as October until December. Many European nations only reported cases in January.
"Phylogenetic estimates support that the COVID-2 pandemic started sometime around Oct. 6, 2019 to Dec. 11, 2019, which corresponds to the time of the host jump into humans," according to the scientists at University College London's Genetics Institute.
In a separate study, researchers found a link between low levels of vitamin D and high numbers of COVID-19 patients across 20 European countries. The trend is similar to previous studies showing low levels of vitamin D and vulnerability to acute respiratory tract infections.
Vitamin D has proven to regulate white blood cells. Too many white blood cells can make the body release high levels of inflammatory cytokines. The COVID-19 virus is proven to cause an excess of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Case in point, Italy and Spain, with the highest death rates due to COVID-19, have many people with lower vitamin D levels. People in the European region generally avoid the sun. On the other hand, people in the Scandinavian countries, where people source vitamin D from cod liver oil and supplements, have lower death rates.
Still, however, the World Health Organization and other world health experts said there is no evidence that the sun or heat from the sun can protect people from COVID-19.
