A recent study published in International Journal of Impotence Research reports that men previously infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are at a greater risk of developing new-onset erectile dysfunction. Study: Prior COVID-19 infection associated with increased risk of newly diagnosed erectile dysfunction . Image Credit: Antonio Marca / Shutterstock.
com As of April 2022, SARS-CoV-2 infected over 80 million individuals and caused over 970,000 deaths in the United States. Long-term health consequences of COVID-19, which are collectively referred to as long-COVID, have been widely reported. Real-world evidence shows that people with long-COVID can experience a wide range of symptoms that can last for weeks, months, or even years after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.
In addition to general symptoms of fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and fever, long-COVID is associated with respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, digestive, and musculo-skeletal complications. A small number of initial reports have also reported a link between COVID-19 and erectile dysfunction in men, which might be attributed to long-term cardiovascular complications. Existing literature indicates the persistent presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles in corporal tissue, the erectile tissue of the penis, several months after COVID-19 infection.
This suggests a possible pathophysiological mechanism for ere.
