Evidence of testes damage from COVID-19 has been accumulating in a series of small autopsy studies, suggesting that the new coronavirus could have an impact on male fertility. Researchers from the University of Miami in Florida compared testis tissues from six men who died of COVID-19 and three who died of other causes. Three of the COVID-19 patients had testis damage that would impair their ability to produce sperm, according to their report in the World Journal of Men's Health. A Chinese research team made similar observations earlier this year and also found that some COVID-19 patients had autoimmune orchitis. A separate Chinese team found "significant damage" to the basic cellular tissue of the testicles in 12 men who died of COVID-19. "The possibility that COVID-19 damages the testes and impacts fertility ... warrants gonadal function evaluation in men infected with COVID-19, or who have recovered from COVID-19, and desire fertility," the Miami team concluded. —Reuters Staff Source
