"Coronavirus threatens to destroy humanity even after we eradicate it"

"Coronavirus threatens to destroy humanity even after we eradicate it"

Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan call for urgent research into the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection on male fertility due to the abundant evidence of reduced sperm motility, fewer sperm and testicular damage, claiming the virus threatens to destroy humanity after the pandemic is over.

"We believe that urgent monitoring of the condition of male patients infected with coronavirus during recovery is necessary," said microbiologist Yu Tian and reproductive biologist Li-kuan Zhou.

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, enters the human body through an enzyme that is present in a number of vital organs, including the lungs, heart, kidneys and intestines. This leaves them susceptible to significant damage, because the virus settles there and begins to multiply uncontrollably.

The enzyme receptor is found in the respiratory, digestive, circulatory, neurological and potentially even in the male reproductive system. Preliminary studies have established the presence of the virus in sperm samples from patients with COVID-19.

Researchers from German and Iranian universities report direct evidence of testicular damage after coronavirus infection. They detected markers of inflammation in tissue samples of 84 patients with COVID-19 out of a total of 189 samples.

The teams tested sperm quality and looked for signs of oxidative stress in patients. They found that inflammation and cellular stress were twice as strong in patients with COVID-19 from the control group.

It is worrying that the sperm of infected patients are three times slower, and the number of sperm was also dramatically lower.

"These effects on sperm cells are associated with lower sperm quality and reduced fertility potential," said team leader Behzad Hajizadeh Maleki, from Justus-Liebig-University.

"Although these effects have shown a tendency to improve over time, they have remained significantly increased in patients with coronavirus, and the extent of these changes is also related to the severity of the disease," he added.

If these findings are confirmed and supported by additional research, it threatens to align with existing fertility crises in many Western countries. The situation will probably be aggravated by the uncertain economic situation in which the threat of a global recession is still hanging in the air, RT reports.