# Coronavirus found in testes and can cause male infertility **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [November 11, 2020, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305 "2020-11-11T12:20:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/1 "2020-11-11T12:20:05Z")
Ok virus, Now your hitting us below the belt! šŸ˜Ÿ Coronavirus sure knows how to mess up peopleā€™s lives. > **[COVID Sexually Transmitted? UM Study Says 'It Also Has Potential To Cause...](https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/covid-male-infertility-sexually-transmitted/)** > > A new study from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine shows COVID-19 has the potential to cause male infertility and could even be spread sexually by asymptomatic men. > [@](#): > > ā€œWe found the virus can be present inside the testes through biopsies from, not just from men who have died from COVID, but also certainly from a man who has recovered from COVID and was currently asymptomatic at the time of the biopsy,ā€ he explains. > These findings mean Coronavirus could have further damaging results down the line. > > ā€œIt can possibly affect male fertility and it could possibly lead to sexual transmission from men to women,ā€ says Ramasamy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/2 "2020-11-11T12:28:22Z")
College athletes need to be concerned. A lifetime with this virus in their testes canā€™t be good. These young men havenā€™t even married yet and will want families someday. Basketball season starts in a couple more weeks. The virus has already been transmitted in some football players and coaches. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/3 "2020-11-11T12:30:56Z")
The article states it has the _potential._ Nothing has been proven. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/4 "2020-11-11T12:32:35Z")
Yeah, why wonā€™t anyone PLEASE think of the male college athletes!? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/5 "2020-11-11T12:38:23Z")
Athletes are an obvious group of young men that can potentially be affected. There was intense debate all summer whether college sports should be played this Fall. Preseason football and basketball was cancelled. The schools are playing a reduced schedule and only games within their conference. Young men and women generally recover quickly from Coronavirus. Itā€™s not as life threatening compared to older adults. Sports are being played. The students that get the virus must quarantine. This new study adds potential risk to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/6 "2020-11-11T12:55:07Z")
The study is that they found it in the testes. The rest is just spitballing. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/7 "2020-11-11T13:46:38Z")
I would think that Covid19 would be found all over your body once you were infected, in fact the article even states so. Why should your balls be any different? Are they special balls with magical deterrent properties? And there is nothing there that indicates it is sexually transmitted other than people heavily breathing during sex. Any close contact with heavy breathing has a high probability of transmitting the disease. Its just a baited headline by putting a question mark in the sexually transmitted line and saying potential to cause yada yada yada. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/8 "2020-11-11T13:48:28Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Its just a baited headline - Masterfully done, too. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/9 "2020-11-11T14:14:53Z")
Itā€™ll take more research. Researchers will probably follow some recovered coronavirus patients and monitor for any long term effects. How long can the virus still be detected in the lungs, kidneys, and testes? Thereā€™s still a lot to learn about the long term consequences of coronavirus. It may be like chicken pox. You get it young and then fifty years later the pox virus emerges as shingles. I had chicken pox age 8 and shingles age 46. My doctor wants me to take the 2 rounds of shingles vaccine ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/10 "2020-11-12T15:15:32Z")
This article was written by a doctor. Heā€™s reviewed whatā€™s been published on Covid and infertility. I understand the research is still new and they need a larger group of patients to make meaningful conclusions. It is an interesting read. Itā€™ll be interesting to see what scientists learn five years from now. > **[Male Fertility and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review of the Literature...](https://www.urotoday.com/recent-abstracts/men-s-health/male-infertility/124144-male-fertility-and-the-covid-19-pandemic-systematic-review-of-the-literature-beyond-the-abstract.html)** > > COVID-19 potential impact on the male reproductive system, SARS-CoV-2 may be associated with alterations in male and female reproduction, preterm delivery in COVID-19 confirmed cases compared with normal controls. > [@](#): > > While there is a significant increase in the number of publications on COVID-19 infection since the emergence of the disease, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the male reproductive system and conception has been generally under-investigated. This was the main reason for our systematic review of published literature to understand the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on male reproduction. > > We conducted a literature search using PubMed and Google Scholar as search engines and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/11 "2020-11-21T16:29:21Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > The study is that they found it in the testes. The rest is just spitballing. Are you saying people shouldnā€™t swallow this? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/12 "2020-11-21T16:46:36Z")
Color me unimpressed at this point. Itā€™s a very small sampling, non-blinded (the observers apparently knew which samples were from Covid-19 patients and which werenā€™t), the reported abnormal spermatogenesis was found in only half the Covid-19 patients (only one out of six had inflammation, which could have been nonspecific), and the reported abnormalities have not been correlated with infertility. If you did histologic examination of the testes of six men at random whoā€™d died of various causes, how many would demonstrate some degree of abnormal spermatogenesis, if you looked for it hard enough? > **[Histopathology and Ultrastructural Findings of Fatal COVID-19 Infections on...](https://wjmh.org/DOIx.php?id=10.5534%2Fwjmh.200170)** > > Achua JK, et al. World J Mens Health. 2021 Jan;39(1):65-74. https://doi.org/10.5534/wjmh.200170 Although I do concede that having a fatal Covid-19 infection is bound to have negative repercussions when it comes to infertility. > [@aceplace57](#): > > This article was written by a doctor. Well, golly. Not to suggest thereā€™s anything fishy about this paper, but itā€™s also worth noting that to date, at least 39 Covid-19 papers have been retracted from the scientific literature, and it would be risky to assume that the conclusions/postulates of others will all be borne out. > **[Retracted coronavirus (COVID-19) papers](https://retractionwatch.com/retracted-coronavirus-covid-19-papers/)** > > via CDC Weā€™ve been tracking retractions of papers about COVID-19 as part of our database. Hereā€™s a running list, which will be updated as needed. (For some context on these figures, seeā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/13 "2020-11-21T16:52:23Z")
So people who gather in large crowds and refuse to wear masks in defiance of competent scientific advise could end up being unable to have children. Is this the pandemicā€™s silver lining? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/14 "2020-11-21T17:19:25Z")
šŸ¤” You have a point Little Nemo. I hope that it turns out there are no long term fertility problems found in Covid survivors. 2020 has been ghastly enough already. Iā€™m sure everyone wants to get this put behind us and kids ten years from now wonā€™t even know what Covid means. Wearing masks in the streets will be long forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2020, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-found-in-testes-and-can-cause-male-infertility/925305/15 "2020-11-23T09:35:17Z")
Itā€™s not unknown for viruses to cause male infertility. Mumps is notorious for this. Before the vaccine, parents really wanted their young boys to get the mumps, because it didnā€™t have this effect on pre-pubescent boys, only on adult men. But other viruses can have it as well. My brother had chicken pox as an adult, and he and his wife had a great deal of trouble conceiving; this was the suspected cause, albeit, there was no baseline right before his infection, and another sample shortly after, so no absolute proof. Brother and wife eventually turned to adoption, rather than spend a lot of money on fertility treatments. Fortunately, the family was very supportive. The day after they made the announcement that they were looking into adoption, my mother amended her will so that it specifically stated that adopted grandchildren were no different from biological grandchildren in terms of inheritance. Not that I would have made a stink, but I guess itā€™s possible a contingency heir outside the country could have; I didnā€™t have a biological child at the time. Anyway, I have heard stories of people having rare residua from viruses-- mostly Deafness, because that was my field for a long time. I knew people Deaf from chicken pox, rubella contracted _after_ birth, mumps (in someone from another country, hence not vaccinated, so I suppose it could have been a mistake, but still), and diphtheria (ā€œno medicine, just prayerā€ family, that changed its tune after child became Deaf). So many infections leave residua, that I will not be shocked to find out the COVID-19 has some.