Short-term impact of COVID-19 on semen parameters:A retrospective study

QIN Mao; LIU Bao-xing; BAO Bing-hao; REN Jun

doi:10.13263/j.cnki.nja.2023.03.005

Abstract：Objective:To observe the changes in semen parameters after COVID-19 infection and clarify its impact on male fertility.Methods:We collected semen samples from 82 male patients infected with COVID-19 in the past 2 months(the infection group)and 14 normal healthy men(the control group),obtained their semen parameters and compared them between the two groups before and after COVID-19 infection.Results:There were no statistically significant differences in the baseline semen parameters between the infection and control groups(P＞0.05),nor in the semen volume within the infection group before and after infection(P＞0.05).Compared with the normal controls,the patients showed significantly decreased sperm concentration,total sperm count,percentage of progressively motile sperm,sperm motility and percentage of morphologically normal sperm after COVID-19 infection(P＜0.05),which were reduced even more significantly in those with than in those without fever during infection(P＜0.05).No sta-tistically significant difference was observed in the semen quality of the patients with normal body temperature before and after COVID-19 infection(P＞0.05).Spearman correlation analysis showed no significant correlation between semen parameters and the severity of fever during infection(P＞0.05).Conclusion:COVID-19 infection decreases the semen quality of the patient,and fever dur-ing infection is a significant influencing factor.The severity of fever,however,is not related to the reduction of semen quality.