Covid link to case of shrinking testicles probed

A man in his early 20s was shocked to find his testicles had shrunk and that he also suffered erectile dysfunction after recovering from Covid, according to a urologist.

The man consulted Trevor Li Churk-fai, who has a private practice, and had taken blood tests to find out the reasons behind his condition.

"The patient [had no] bad habits or addictions. He was infected during the fifth wave and showed mild symptoms at that time. He recovered after staying home for around eight days," Li said.

"Later on, the patient found that both his testicles have shrunk and his sexual ability worsened."

If the problems of shrinking testicles and erectile dysfunction are related to psychological reasons, they still can be cured through counseling or the use of hormonal treatment or reverse them to a certain extent, according to Li.

Although blood test results showed that the man is also suffering from other non-Covid-related hormone problems, Li did not rule out the possibility that his condition might have been caused by his infection.

Li said he has another patient that also experienced erection problems that was "likely caused by long Covid," a condition that affects about 3 percent of recoverers in Hong Kong.

But if it was due to erectile tissue damage, the problem might be irreversible and incurable and doctors will have to use certain drugs or even, in an extreme case, resort to a penile implant surgery as reported overseas, Li added.

He said more studies have confirmed that testicles are vulnerable to the coronavirus and that 10 to 20 percent of infected patients with serious symptoms reported discomfort or pain in their testicles.

"One of the studies show one-fourth of recovered patients found that the semen volume and motility of their sperm nosedived after infection, but it remains unknown whether it will be a short-term or long-term impact," he said. Li said the more serious symptoms a patient shows, the more impact they will have on the patient's testicles.

He said overseas studies showed that patients will experience pain in the testicles as one of the presenting symptoms if they have to be hospitalized due to Covid. Lee said: "We can say that the coronavirus will not only cause damage to our lungs, but unfortunately also to men's reproductive organs."

He added that it is because of two particular enzymes that "allow the coronavirus to enter our cells and these two exist in abundance not only in the lungs but also in testicles."

Warning that males who suffer more serious symptoms upon contracting Covid are more likely to damage their testicular tissue, he called for men to get vaccinated as early as possible.

A University of Hong Kong study found that Covid could shrink testicles and affect men's virility as they recover from the coronavirus.

Led by microbiologist and government pandemic adviser Yuen Kwok-yung, the HKU team conducted a study on hamsters and found the coronavirus can cause "acute testicular damage, chronic asymmetric testicular atrophy and hormonal changes" in the animals even if they only had mild pneumonia.

Separately, the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service and Education University found that there was a rise of more than 60 percent in people seeking psychological help through their online platform during the fifth wave.

The survey found that 6,919 people sought their help between January and March this year, up 66 percent on the 3,727 people who sought help between September and December last year.

It also found the mental state of 30 percent of the 3,749 respondents has reached clinical-care levels, while most were in the age group 18-30.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com