Male sperm quality can be affected for a few months after recovery from a Covid-19 infection, according to a small Belgian scientific study. The semen itself did not appear to contain and therefore transmit the coronavirus, but couples who want to have a child, according to the study, are likely to experience rather temporary difficulties due to their lower sperm count and lower motility.
The researchers, led by Dr. Gilber Donders of Antwerp University Hospital, who published the paper in the fertility and infertility journal Fertility & Sterility, according to Reuters, took sperm samples from 120 men with an average age of 35, an average of 52 days after they had no more symptoms following a Covid-19 infection.
It was found that of the men who gave a sample less than a month after recovering from symptomatic Covid-19 infection, 60% had reduced sperm motility and 37% had reduced sperm count. Of the men who had provided a semen sample one to two months after their recovery, 37% had decreased sperm motility and 29% had decreased sperm count. Of the men who gave a sample after at least two months of recovery, 28% had decreased sperm motility and 6% had decreased sperm count.9]
The severity of prior Covid-19 infection did not appear to correlate with the degree of reduction in semen quality. Coronavirus was not detected in the semen of any of the men in the study either shortly after or well after recovery.The researchers noted that "couples seeking pregnancy should be warned that semen quality after Covid-19 infection may not be the best possible". They estimated that in most men sperm quality would be restored about three months after recovery, but said that further studies need to confirm this, as well as determine whether sperm may be more permanently damaged in a minority of men.Source: protothema.gr
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