Virus dangers: Zika, SARS, dengue, 24 others could be transmitted through semen

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A dig through the literature has uncovered evidence of 27 distinct viruses from a wide variety of families capable of staying intact as they’re transmitted through semen to a new host. While not all of the microbes are confirmed sexually transmitted infections, the review does draw attention to the fact the testes seems to provide a potentially easy way for just about any kind of virus to migrate into a new home. This latest research was inspired by the recent discovery of Zika virus RNA in the semen of infected hosts.

To see what other nasties might be lurking alongside our sperm, the researchers ran a search through the PubMed catalogue for relevant terms, filtering out over 3,800 papers containing some mention of viruses and semen. All up they fished out evidence of 27 viruses – including Zika – that could remain intact enough to infect the blood of a new host.

Viruses responsible for diseases such as influenza, SARS, and dengue have been found in the testes, making it a fair question to ask if they’re one small step away from an easy passage. […] But with Zika taking a number of people by surprise, we should be thinking outside of the box when it comes to the spread of viruses.

This research was published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: More Viruses Than We Previously Thought Could Be Transmitted Sexually

 

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