The General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has said that covid-19 could potentially affect a man’s ability to produce children.
This comes a day after the GMA Vice President, Dr Frank Serebour, revealed that erectile dysfunction in males forms part of many health complications faced by persons who have fully recovered from Covid-19.
Dr Justice Yankson, speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, said though reports are not conclusive, damage caused to the testicular cells by Covid-19 through hyper-inflammation of the cell tissues may affect male fertility in the long run.
He said this while explaining the effects of Covid-19 on the sexual health of male patients.
“Then there’s sometimes also damage to the testicular cells – the cells within the testes, that is where testosterone is produced; generally speaking that is what makes us men.
“So when the cells within the testes that are supposed to produce this hormone are also destroyed through the hyper inflammation that Covid brings about, then you have a situation where your testosterone levels are decreased and then generally speaking it will also affect your ability to sustain erection.
“But the most critical thing about this particular cell being destroyed is that it is where the sperm and all that are produced. So even though it is too early at this point to conclude, the scientific thinking is that it could also affect your fertility in itself,” he said.
According to him, there is more to be done for a conclusive report to be made on the issue.
But while the country waits, he advised citizens to wear their masks and practice all Covid-19 preventive measures religiously to avoid these complications that may be irreversible.
“But like I said it is early days yet because we need a bit of time to be able to say conclusively that patients who had their testes compromised in terms of their function have demonstrated that over a certain period they are unable to give birth assuming the function of the penis is even on.
“So it is a very serious matter we are talking about here and the key thing is that we need to mask up, we need to social distance or physical distance, wash our hands and all that. It is the prevention that is key,” he said.
Dr Yankson urged Covid-19 survivors who have identified changes in their bodily functions or any post-Covid symptoms to immediately seek medical support in order to remedy the situation.
“In terms of treatment what you’ll do like we are doing now, we are running a post-Covid clinic and these are supposed to take care of the post-Covid syndrome and all the bits.
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“So if for some reasons somebody has seen changes in the function or their ability to erect, it will be imperative and very important that you’ll consult your doctor, they look at it, depending on the situation, most likely you’ll be referred to a urologist who will take a deeper look at everything and then prescribe some form of treatment to help alleviate your problems for you,” he advised.
Meanwhile, there has been a surge in Covid-19 cases recorded in all 16 regions of the country.
According to the Ghana Health Service, Ghana stands at 3,613 active cases, 646 new cases and 372 reported deaths.