Sometimes, it seems like half of the great global conspiracy is aimed at keeping as many women pregnant as possible, while the other half is trying to stop us from having sex altogether.
Make up your fuckin' mind, you guys.
Study finds virus survived in the testes of 55-year-old man for 71 months, and experts recommend safe sex protocols to cut risk
Hantavirus can remain in human semen for up to six years and has the potential for sexual transmission even after a person has recovered, according to a peer-reviewed study.
The discovery means male patients are likely to be advised to change their sexual practices as happens with other viruses such as Ebola, which also survives in the sexual tract.
The research was conducted at the Spiez Laboratory, a Swiss government institute tasked with fighting nuclear, biological and chemical threats, and published in the journal Viruses.
They investigated a Swiss 55-year-old man who had become infected with the Andes strain of the hantavirus in South America six years earlier.
They found that although there was no longer any trace of the virus in man’s blood, urine and respiratory tract, it was still detectable in his semen 71 months later.
As with other viruses, including Ebola and Zika virus, male testes may act as a “reservoir” where the virus can essentially “hide” and evade the body’s immune system, said the paper.
A 2021 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, which resulted in 23 cases and 12 deaths, was later linked to a survivor of the West Africa 2014-2016 epidemic, who had gone on to spread the virus through sex.
“Taken together, our results show that the Andes virus has the potential for sexual transmission,” the 2023 study said, although this has never been documented.
It is unclear what implications this may have for the eight confirmed hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise or the 20 people with no symptoms isolating in Britain.
Analysts at Airfinity, a company that tracks global health risks, recommend that male patients should receive “extensive safe-sex guidance beyond the [42-day] quarantine.”
The guidance should be “analogous to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Ebola survivor semen-monitoring protocols,” it added.
The WHO protocols say the semen of male survivors of Ebola should be tested every three months and not be considered clear before two consecutive negative test results.
Until cleared, they should “abstain from all types of sex” or “use condoms consistently and correctly.”
They should also wash themselves “thoroughly” with soap and water after any contact with semen – including after masturbation, according to the guidance.
The testes are known to act as a “safe harbour” for at least 27 infectious diseases, allowing some pathogens to live in the body and infect others years after the patient has recovered.
Sperm cells are protected against attack by the body’s immune system as they are needed for procreation. But this also means that viruses can survive there.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which is monitoring British passengers from the MV Hondius, told The Telegraph: “UKHSA keeps all guidance under constant review and monitors emerging evidence, including international research, as it becomes available.
“Any individuals in England who are confirmed as cases or identified as contacts will be provided with all necessary public health advice, including on reducing the risk of onward transmission.”
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