From the results section of the paper - just because (though I suppose they needed to explain the gap between 50 and 38)
"Among 50 patients identified, 12 patients were unable to provide a semen specimen because of erectile dysfunction, being in a comatose state, or dying prior to recruitment; therefore, a total of 38 patients were enrolled for semen testing."
More relevant is perhaps:
"Even if the virus cannot replicate in the male reproductive system, it may persist, possibly resulting from the privileged immunity of testes. So far, researchers have found 27 viruses associated with viremia in human semen. But the presence of viruses in semen may be more common than currently understood, and traditional non–sexually transmitted viruses should not be assumed to be totally absent in genital secretions.5,6 Studies on viral detection and semen persistence are beneficial to clinical practice and public health, especially concerning viruses that could cause high mortality or morbidity, such as SARS-CoV-2.
This study is limited by the small sample size and the short subsequent follow-up. Therefore, further studies are required with respect to the detailed information about virus shedding, survival time, and concentration in semen.
*If it could be proved that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually in future studies*, sexual transmission might be a critical part of the prevention of transmission, especially considering the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the semen of recovering patients."
So seems more like a click-bait type headline rather than a good summary of the studies findings. (Emphasis added)
-- Modified on 5/7/2020 11:37:43 PM
Check out this excerpt from yesterday's Wall Street Journal. As Dr. Poon notes (no, I didn't make it up and yes, it would be a great handle) that the virus needs to be cultured before we can tell if it's infectious. Also note the comments of Dr. Brooks, who is the chief medical officer in charge of the Covid-19 response for the CDC.
Coronavirus Is Found in Semen of Covid-19 Patients
WSJ 5-7-2020
The new coronavirus has been found in the semen of infected individuals, according to Chinese researchers, raising the prospect that the virus could be sexually transmitted.
The study, other researchers warn, also raises many questions. It doesn’t explain how much viral load was present in the sperm; nor did it examine whether the virus can be transmitted through sexual activity. The study, conducted at China’s Shangqiu Municipal Hospital, was described in a research letter published Thursday by the JAMA Network of medical journals.
It is the first to detect the virus in reproductive fluids. Further research is needed to understand whether safe-sex practices should be part of Covid-19-prevention efforts, say medical experts who read the paper.
“These are intriguing results,” said John Brooks, chief medical officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 response. But it doesn’t mean that semen is infectious, he noted. “When we’re looking everywhere for this virus, we’re finding its footprints in different places in the body—whether that’s a trace or if it’s a big foot is very hard to say.”
No known U.S. infections have spread through sexual contact, Dr. Brooks said. Some other viruses, including mosquito-borne Zika, can spread by sexual contact.
Liona Poon, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, noted the study falls short of explaining how much viral load was present in semen. “Was it fragments, or whole virus particulate? Until the virus is isolated and cultured, we don’t know if it’s infectious,” she said.
