Chinese researchers tested sperm of men who were infected with COVID-19 and found that the semen of some had coronavirus.
With that said, transmission of coronavirus through sexual activities has become a possibility.
According to studies by doctors at China's Shangqiu Municipal Hospital, six out of 38 men who were hospitalised with the disease tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in their semen.
While the findings were based only on a small number of infected men, more research is needed to see whether COVID-19 can be sexually transmitted or not.
"Further studies are required with respect to the detailed information about virus shedding, survival time and concentration in semen," the team wrote in a study published in JAMA Network Open.
"If it could be proved that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually, that might be a critical part of the prevention, especially considering the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the semen of recovering patients."
But a previous study on 12 COVID-19 patients in China in February found that all the patients tested negative for the virus in their semen.
Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at Britain's Sheffield University, said the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the sperm did not show whether it is active or capable of causing infection.
“However, we should not be surprised if the virus which causes COVID-19 is found in the semen of some men, since this has been shown with many other viruses such as Ebola and Zika,” he said.
