Researchers at the Rome-based hospital and infectious disease research facility highlighted evidence of fragments of monkeypox virus they found in the semen of a handful of patients in Italy. Their findings raise questions over whether monkeypox is infectious through semen.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the monkeypox virus is transmitted through close contact with an infected person via bodily fluids, like pus or blood from skin lesions, and scabs or rashes. Clothing, bedcovers, towels, eating utensils and dishes, and other objects that have been contaminated with the virus could also infect other people.
A medical laboratory technician inactivates suspected monkeypox samples to be tested at the microbiology laboratory of La Paz Hospital on June 06, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. Europe is at the center of the monkeypox virus outbreak.
Semen Samples Contain Monkeypox DNA
The team from Spallanzani Institute discussed in their report titled "Epidemiological, Clinical and Virological Characteristics of Four Cases of Monkeypox Support Transmission Through Sexual Contact, Italy," published in Eurosurveilance, the possibility of sexual transmission of the monkeypox virus.
Many of the monkeypox confirmed cases are among sexual partners who have close contact. Reuters reported that the team identified six out of seven patients at the facility who had fragments of the virus in their semen and are believed to be capable of infecting other people.
The institute's general director Francesco Vaia told the news outlet that the data is not enough evidence to prove that the biological traits of the monkeypox virus has changed and its mode of transmission has evolted. On the other hand, finding an infectious virus in semen is a factor that points to sexual transmission as one of the ways the virus could be transmitted.
They have already notified WHO of the latest findings, but the UN health agency has not yet released any comment regarding the matter. The data comes after thousands of monkeypox virus cases were reported in over 30 countries worldwide, mostly in Europe, since early May 2022.
Scientists are scrambling to understand what caused the current outbreak, as well as find out if the origins of the virus have not changed.
A separate report from German scientists also detected DNA of monkeypox virus in the semen of two patients in the country. Its detection is almost similar to the report from Rome. However, according to Carlos Maluquer de Motes, who runs a research group studying poxvirus biology at the University of Surrey, the detection of viral DNA doesn't necessarily imply the presence of the infectious virus.
Enrico Bucci, a biologist from Temple University in Philadelphia, noted that it remains unknown if monkeypox is infectious through semen, but "it is suspected" to be "very likely." However, he stressed the lack of formal evidence to support it and raised the need for further experiments in the laboratory.
ALSO READ: Monkeypox Virus Could Be Spreading Under the Radar, World Health Organization Says
Monkeypox Facts for Sexually Active People
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) listed some key facts on its website that sexually active people should know about monkeypox.
First, the monkeypox virus causes the rare monkeypox disease that makes people sick with flu-like symptoms, rashes and sores. Monkeypox can spread to anyone close, personal, and often through skin-to-skin contact.
Physical contact can happen during intimate sexual intercourse, including oral, anal, and vaginal sex or even touching the genital or anus of a person infected with the monkeypox virus. Other examples of physical contact like hugging, massaging, kissing, and talking closely also open the possibility of transmission.
CDC recommends avoiding physical contact with those infected people or having symptoms until they have been checked or treated by a professional.
RELATED ARTICLE: Sexual Transmission of Monkeypox Blamed for Its Global Spread, WHO Official Reveals
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