COVID can leave men infertile ‘causing inflamed testicles and killing sperm’, experts warn

Experts have warned men who’ve tested positive for coronavirus to watch out for a new side effect that could leave them infertile.

COVID could affect sperm quality and reduce fertility in infected men, new research has found.

A study at a German University claims the virus can cause increased sperm cell death and inflammation, The Sun reports.

Published in Reproduction, the research found 84 fertile men with coronavirus saw stress in sperm cells rise by more than 100 per cent.

It also discovered sperm cell shape was altered by 400 per cent which, according to the study, can lead to trouble conceiving.

But Allan Pacey, a professor of Andrology at the UK’s University of Sheffield, said: 

That the study was able to repeat these measurements every ten days over a 60 day period is no mean feat and this is a nice part of the study. However, since sperm production takes just under three months (roughly) to be completed from start to finish, in my opinion they ended the study 30 days too soon.

It would have been more useful to see whether there was a difference at 90 days between the two groups. A paper published last year suggested only a small difference in sperm concentration existed by that time.

Multiple studies have looked at the effect of the virus on men’s reproductive organs – with some finding there could be knock-on issues for fertility, at least temporarily.

Lead researcher Behzad Hajizadeh Maleki added: 

These effects on sperm cells are associated with lower sperm quality and reduced fertility potential. Although these effects tended to improve over time, they remained significantly and abnormally higher in the COVID-patients, and the magnitude of these changes were also related to disease severity.

It comes after another study found the common COVID-19 symptom of a fever could lead to male infertility.

Scientists at Assam University in India warned in their latest research a high temperature has been known to cause damaging swelling in men’s testicles.

The three main symptoms of COVID-19 to watch out for are a fever, a new continuous cough and a loss of taste or smell.