Mild coronavirus disease 2019: Results of a multicentric prospective study on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 presence in semen fractions and cells and its effects on semen parameters.
Louis BujanGabriela MendelukDominique MahéMarie-Astrid LlabadorCelia BettiolIngrid PlottonJean-Michel MansuyPierre DelobelMyriam DaudinNathalie MoinardJulia AriagnoPatricia ChenloMuriel AlvarezNathalie Dejucq-RainsfordChristophe PasquierPublished in: Andrology (2024)
11% of patients with mild coronavirus disease 2019 who were not hospitalized had severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 excretions in semen, which persisted for up to 90 days in one patient. No germ cells appeared infected by the virus, but the detection of nucleoprotein antigen-positive epithelial semen cells and Sertoli cells suggests genital tract infection. Albeit infrequent, semen may contain the replication-competent virus during the acute phase with potential risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmissions during sexual contact and assisted reproduction procedures. The effect of mild coronavirus disease 2019 on spermatogenesis and reproductive hormones was moderate and reversible.