SRINAGAR: Covid-19 could cause male infertility according to the latest study conducted by Dr Dan Aderka, the head of the GI Cancer Service and GI Cancer Biology and Immunotherapy Programme at Sheba Medical Centre, reported  The Jerusalem Post. The men who survive moderate or serious infection by the Coronavirus can remain in this state for an unknown amount of time.

The study found that sperm production dropped to half its normal levels in male patients. The virus if travelled in the bloodstream which scientists say is doubtful may harm testicular cells that produce sperm, the study claims. The study was the outcome of the date that the researchers collected from 40 different sources across the world.

More than one-in-ten sperm were also shown to be infected with the virus. Covid-19 is able to infect the testes as they have ACE2 receptors like the lungs said the study.

Males who suffer from moderate or severe cases of Covid-19 could experience reduced fertility, according to this study.

Aderka, whose research has not yet been published, told The Jerusalem Post that the cause for this phenomenon seems to be the presence of the ACE2 receptor on the surface the cell of the Sertoli and Leydig cells of the testis, the same receptors on the cells of lungs, kidneys and hearts.

The Sertoli cells support sperm maturation. The Leydig cells produce testosterone, he added. When the Coronavirus binds to the ACE2 receptors and destroys the cells, it causes infertility.

“As normal sperm maturation takes 70 to 75 days, it is possible that if we are doing a sperm examination two and a half months after recovery, we may see even more reduced fertility,” Aderka said. “It could be even more detrimental.”

Dr Dan Aderka of Sheba Medical Centre said that not only was the virus found within the sperm of some 13% of screened male Covid-19 patients but that there was a 50% decrease in the sperm volume, concentration and motility in patients with moderate disease even 30 days post-diagnosis.

“We don’t know yet if these effects of Covid-19 are reversible,” Aderka, who also teaches at the Tel Aviv University was quoted saying.

As the pandemic started reporting outside China, the health sector in most of the world stopped invitro-fertilization process fearing tensions. Reports appearing in media said the couple in various countries delayed pregnancies fearing the Coronoavirus may have an impact on the generation next.

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