Evidence suggests covid-19 infections can lower sperm counts for months, and that the virus can occasionally be found in semen and may even directly bind to sperm cells
False-colour scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of human sperm
CNRI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Covid-19 infections can lower sperm count and the virus may even bind to receptors on the surface of sperm cells. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the effects differ to those seen after other illnesses that involve fever, such as the flu.
Krishna Chaitanya Mantravadi at Oasis Fertility, a fertility clinic in India, tracked sperm counts in 20 men aged 25 to 35 from before they had a SARS-CoV-2 infection to nearly five months after they had fully recovered – …