The researchers found evidence to suggest that men who contract the COVID-19 coronavirus may experience reduced fertility – from damaged sperm cells, according to a new study published in the journal. reproduction.
COVID-19 may reduce the reproductive capacity of men
COVID-19 disease can kill sperm and inflame the testicles, which can impair the sperm production process and reduce men’s ability to bear children.
“These effects on sperm cells are associated with poor sperm quality and reduced fertility potential,” said Behzad Hajizadeh Maleki – doctoral student at Justice Leipzig-University in Germany – MedicalXpress reports. “Although these effects tend to improve over time, they remained significantly and abnormally higher in patients with COVID-19, and the magnitude of these changes was also related to the severity of the disease.”
Men can contract the virus through direct viral invasion during sexual encounters, after which the virus begins to alter the reproductive processes necessary to maintain sexual characteristics, according to the study. Once this happens, “a secondary inflammatory response induced by a viral infection” can happen in the testicles, and the nominal fever response to the infection also interferes with healthy reproductive physiology.
The male reproductive system should be considered a ‘high risk’ organ
“The above mechanisms often coexist and have a synergistic effect in mediating disability,” says the new study.
These recent findings contribute to the ongoing study of the effects of COVID-19 and show us that men recovering from COVID-19 may have difficulty conceiving children – with abnormally low quality sperm. Consequently, health professionals must monitor and continuously analyze the reproductive functions of men after a coronavirus infection – to avoid reproductive problems in the future.
“The results of this study also suggest that the male reproductive system should be considered a vulnerable route of infection by COVID-19 and should be declared a high risk organ by the World Health Organization,” added Maleki, MedicalXpress reports.
Men became more interested in cryogenic sperm freezing
There are more extensive studies needed to validate the conclusions of this study – and to specify precisely how COVID-19 affects fertility and reproduction for men. But that same ambiguity adds up to a long series of pandemic studies that point to a real danger to the reproductive capacity of men after the virus has recovered.
Although we don’t know when more concrete answers will come, there is a way around the reduced fertility that many men have already turned to.
In April last year, business increased for companies that send preservative sperm sample collection kits for men with return postage – with which men can cryogenically store viable human seeds for later use.
Men may soon have options to resist the effects of COVID-19
Sad to see, but on a biological level, it seems that men are suffering worse fates than women with the biological effects of COVID-19, according to a post on the Johns Hopkins University blog.
“Worldwide, on all continents, we are seeing that men are significantly more likely to be hospitalized with severe COVID-19, and men are also significantly more likely to die from COVID-19,” said the biologist. Johns Hopkins’ Sabra Klein in his blog post.
The future may look bleak for men – who are more likely than women to be hospitalized, die and become less fertile due to a serious COVID-19 infection. But with scientists beginning to understand how the virus affects male reproductive systems and vaccines circulating globally, we can finally say that men may soon have viable options for preserving their lives and those of the next generation.