Contents:
- Medical Video: 6 Bacteria with Awesome Superpowers
- Different semen with sperm
- A variety of viruses that can spread through a man's semen from unprotected sex
- Further research is still needed to deepen these findings
Medical Video: 6 Bacteria with Awesome Superpowers
Semen plays an important role so that pregnancy can occur. This fluid is responsible for delivering sperm into the uterus to begin the process of fertilizing the egg. But you know, besides delivering sperm, semen can also deliver various infectious disease viruses - not just venereal disease, you know! The risk of transmission of disease through semen increases if you and your partner have unprotected sex. So, what are the viruses that can spread through male ejaculatory fluid?
Different semen with sperm
There are still many who misinterpret semen and sperm as the same thing. Semen is a cloudy white liquid produced by men during ejaculation. So, it is not right to call the liquid sperm. In the semen, it contains sperm cells (spermatozoa), fructose, and various enzymes that are responsible for helping sperm to fertilize the uterus.
Every time a man ejaculates, the semen produced contains sperm.Sperm itself is a male reproductive cell that contains half the chromosomes needed to fertilize and form a zygote. The other half of the chromosome is in the female egg.Unlike ejaculatory fluids that can be seen clearly, sperm cells can only be seen using a microscope.
A variety of viruses that can spread through a man's semen from unprotected sex
Based on research conducted at Oxford University and the Public Health Rapid Support Team in the UK, the researchers found that there were 27 different viruses that could be transmitted through semen.
The study was conducted after researchers looked at a study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Disease in 2016 which reported that RNA from the Zika virus could live in semen for several months. Well, from the results of these studies the experts then conducted a review and studied more than 3,800 scientific reports to find out other viruses that could live and be transmitted through semen.
The result, the researchers found as many as 27 viruses other than Zika, which can live in semen and infect the bloodstream. Examples are Ebola, HIV, hepatitis C, herpes, chikungunya, chickenpox, and mumps. The Ebola virus can even be found in the semen of former sufferers for 3 months to 1 year after recovery.
Some of them, such as HIV, ebola, herpes, and hepatitis may not be too surprising because the four diseases are known to be very common spread through unprotected sex. However, the majority of the pathogens found by researchers have never been studied as diseases that can be transmitted sexually.
Further research is still needed to deepen these findings
The researchers emphasize that the presence of viral particles in ejaculatory fluid does not mean that every virus always causes sexual infection or disease. The reason is, the researchers suspect that sex is not the most efficient means of transmission for some of the viruses mentioned above. Although there are indeed viruses that have been proven to be transmitted through sexual contact, for example the HIV virus, Ebola and herpes.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Pritish Tosh reported on the WebMD website stated that in most cases, the Zika virus is transmitted through mosquito bites compared to sexual contact. Not only that, most people are also more likely to get the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis, than sneezing or coughing than through sex.
That is why further research is needed to find out the potential for transmission of these viruses through semen. This should be learned to know and understand the effects of any viruses that affect fertility and embryo development.
