{The Ebola virus may remain present in sperms of survivors of Ebola epidemic for at least nine months. Demonstrates the research which stresses the need for a longer medical monitoring.}
According to the study published Wednesday 14th October in the New England Journal of Medicine, fragments of the virus can remain permanently in the body of people healed, presenting a danger of their spouses they may contaminate. The study was conducted on 93 male in Sierra Leone over the age of 18 years.
Talking to Jeune Afrique journal, Bruce Aylward, the head of response to Ebola at the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed the need to increase efforts to resist relapse of the epidemic.
“This study reminds us that despite the fact that the number of cases of Ebola continues to decrease, the survivors and their families are still facing the effects of the disease,” said Bruce Aylward, head of the response to Ebola at the World Health Organization (WHO).
“This research provides more evidence showing that patients who survived Ebola need help for six to twelve months following their recovery to ensure that their partners are not exposed to the virus,” he says.
More than half of the subjects whose sperm was tested four to six months after their illness was positive for Ebola, while 26% whose sperm was tested between seven and nine months after the infection, was still positive, reveals the research conducted by the Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone, World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for control and disease prevention (CDC).
The study found that more than 8000 men who cured Ebola in the three most affected countries in Africa – Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia have subsequently relapsed.
Following this relapse, health authorities therefore recommend survivors to test their sperm before having sex, use a condom or otherwise.
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