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After the Modern coronavirus address SARS - CoV-2 enters the human organic structure , it seems to attain sites well beyond the lung — it ’s been found in the kidney , heart , liver andgastrointestinal tract . And now , researchers have detected the virus in semen , accord to a small study .

However , the determination , bring out Thursday ( May 7 ) in the journalJAMA connection Open , do n’t needfully intend that the virus can be sexually channel through contact with semen .

In Brief

The field ask 38 men in Shangqiu , China , who had test positive for COVID-19 and were have symptoms of the disease or had recently recovered . Participants provided come sample distribution , which doc analyzed for the presence of SARS - CoV-2 , the virus that stimulate COVID-19 .

The research worker detected SARS - CoV-2 in sperm cell from six participants , or 16 % overall . Of these , four patients were currently get symptoms of COVID-19 , and two patients had latterly recovered .

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Fertilization of human egg cell by sperm cells, spermatozoons, 3D illustration

However , it ’s important to note that although the researchers detected hereditary material from SARS - CoV-2 in semen , the subject area does not prove that these virus particles are " workable , " or capable of channelize infection , allot toThe New York Times .

" This is an interesting finding , but it must be confirm that there is infective virus — not just a computer virus merchandise in the ejaculate , " Dr. Stanley Perlman , a professor of microbiology , immunology and pediatrics at the University of Iowa , who was not demand in the bailiwick , told the Times .

In addition , it ’s unclear how long the computer virus hover in seminal fluid , give that participant in the discipline were still bear witness symptoms of COVID-19 or had only recently recovered . ( The two " recover " patients whose semen sample tested overconfident for SARS - CoV-2 had only been well for two to three Day before they gave the sample . )

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What ’s more , other field have not detected the virus among patient who had been recovered for a longer period . For example , a report published April 17 in the journalFertility and Sterility , which affect 34 manpower in Wuhan , China , go to discover the virus in patient about one month after their COVID-19 diagnosis .

Transmission of COVID-19 during sex still seems much more probable through close contact and inhalation of respiratory droplets , rather than through semen , the Times cover .

Originally print onLive scientific discipline .

Spermatozoa, view under a microscope, illustration of the appearance of spermatozoa.

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Illustration of coronavirus particles. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses named for their appearance under electron microscopy, where their round-tipped surface spikes make them resemble a crown.

an illustration of a group of sperm

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A microscope image of Schistosoma haematobium

An illustration of Clostridium bacteria

A woman lies in bed looking tired and sick

A doctor places a bandaids on a patient�s arm after giving them a shot

An illustration of Y shaped antibodies in front of a coronavirus particle, blurred in the background

An older man stands in front of the National Covid Memorial Wall in London in the UK.

A young woman in a surgical mask sit in a doctor�s office as a doctor cleans her arm for a vaccination

an open box of astrazeneca vaccine vials, with one vial pulled out to show the label

An image comparing the relative sizes of our solar system�s known dwarf planets, including the newly discovered 2017 OF201

an illustration showing a large disk of material around a star

a person holds a GLP-1 injector

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an MRI scan of a brain

A photograph of two of Colossal�s genetically engineered wolves as pups.

An illustration of a hand that transforms into a strand of DNA