Ebola : the virus persists for 2 years in the semen

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Published the 03.08.2017 at 13h25

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The Ebola virus still reserve some surprises to the teams who study it. The epidemic which has raged in West Africa has now been completed. But two years after its official end, the infectious disease physicians continue to find its traces in the body of the survivors. More specifically, in the sperm of men who do not have more symptoms, as shown by a study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Among the patients who survived the virus, causing a haemorrhagic fever, severe, several hundreds are followed in the framework of scientific studies. Here, researchers from the university of North Carolina (the United States) have examined the biological fluids of 149 Liberians.

Survivors in bad condition

The semen of 13 of these volunteers show traces detectable RNA belonging to the Ebola virus. Eleven of them had not had any symptoms since two years. Detail more surprising : some of the men had delivered negative results during previous harvesting. Without the specialists could explain it.

A few features distinguish the survivors in that Ebola persists. Older on average, they complain more often of pain and visual disturbances. This is not surprising, since three-quarters of the patients suffer from health issues so that the symptoms have disappeared.

The visual disturbances are also common in people who have survived the virus. A study has even reported that they have lesions at the level of the retina, which is an area of retreat for Ebola.