Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Apr 12;378(15):1377-1385.
doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1711038.

Zika Virus Shedding in Semen of Symptomatic Infected Men

Paul S Mead  1 , Nisha K Duggal  1 , Sarah A Hook  1 , Mark Delorey  1 , Marc Fischer  1 , Dana Olzenak McGuire  1 , Heidi Becksted  1 , Ryan J Max  1 , Michael Anishchenko  1 , Amy M Schwartz  1 , Wen-Pin Tzeng  1 , Christina A Nelson  1 , Erin M McDonald  1 , John T Brooks  1 , Aaron C Brault  1 , Alison F Hinckley  1
Affiliations
Free article

Zika Virus Shedding in Semen of Symptomatic Infected Men

Paul S Mead et al. N Engl J Med. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus that has been linked to adverse birth outcomes. Previous reports have shown that person-to-person transmission can occur by means of sexual contact.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study involving men with symptomatic ZIKV infection to determine the frequency and duration of ZIKV shedding in semen and urine and to identify risk factors for prolonged shedding in these fluids. Specimens were obtained twice per month for 6 months after illness onset and were tested by real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay for ZIKV RNA and by Vero cell culture and plaque assay for infectious ZIKV.

Results: A total of 1327 semen samples from 184 men and 1038 urine samples from 183 men were obtained 14 to 304 days after illness onset. ZIKV RNA was detected in the urine of 7 men (4%) and in the semen of 60 (33%), including in semen samples from 22 of 36 men (61%) who were tested within 30 days after illness onset. ZIKV RNA shedding in semen decreased substantially during the 3 months after illness onset but continued for 281 days in 1 man (1%). Factors that were independently associated with prolonged RNA shedding included older age, less frequent ejaculation, and the presence of certain symptoms at the time of initial illness. Infectious ZIKV was isolated from 3 of 78 semen samples with detectable ZIKV RNA, all obtained within 30 days after illness onset and all with at least 7.0 log10 ZIKV RNA copies per milliliter of semen.

Conclusions: ZIKV RNA was commonly present in the semen of men with symptomatic ZIKV infection and persisted in some men for more than 6 months. In contrast, shedding of infectious ZIKV appeared to be much less common and was limited to the first few weeks after illness onset. (Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.).

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

  • Detection and persistence of Zika virus in body fluids and associated factors: a prospective cohort study.
    Calvet GA, Kara EO, Bôtto-Menezes CHA, da Costa Castilho M, de Oliveira Franca RF, Habib N, Neto AM, Pereira GFM, Giozza SP, Bermúdez XPD, Fernandes TJ, Modjarrad K, Brasil P, Broutet NJN, de Filippis AMB; ZIKABRA Study Team. Calvet GA, et al. Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 6;13(1):21557. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-48493-8. Sci Rep. 2023. PMID: 38057382 Free PMC article.
  • Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Neurologic Manifestations of Mosquito-Borne Flavivirus Infections.
    Blackhurst BM, Funk KE. Blackhurst BM, et al. Viruses. 2023 Oct 31;15(11):2200. doi: 10.3390/v15112200. Viruses. 2023. PMID: 38005878 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Epidemiology and determinants of reemerging bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and emerging STIs in Europe.
    Mitjà O, Padovese V, Folch C, Rossoni I, Marks M, Rodríguez I Arias MA, Telenti A, Ciuffi A, Blondeel K, Mårdh O, Casabona J. Mitjà O, et al. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023 Oct 26;34:100742. doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100742. eCollection 2023 Nov. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023. PMID: 37927427 Free PMC article. Review.
  • SARS-CoV-2 reservoir in post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC).
    Proal AD, VanElzakker MB, Aleman S, Bach K, Boribong BP, Buggert M, Cherry S, Chertow DS, Davies HE, Dupont CL, Deeks SG, Eimer W, Ely EW, Fasano A, Freire M, Geng LN, Griffin DE, Henrich TJ, Iwasaki A, Izquierdo-Garcia D, Locci M, Mehandru S, Painter MM, Peluso MJ, Pretorius E, Price DA, Putrino D, Scheuermann RH, Tan GS, Tanzi RE, VanBrocklin HF, Yonker LM, Wherry EJ. Proal AD, et al. Nat Immunol. 2023 Oct;24(10):1616-1627. doi: 10.1038/s41590-023-01601-2. Epub 2023 Sep 4. Nat Immunol. 2023. PMID: 37667052 Review.
  • Zika-specific neutralizing antibodies targeting inter-dimer envelope epitopes.
    Sankhala RS, Dussupt V, Donofrio G, Gromowski GD, De La Barrera RA, Larocca RA, Mendez-Rivera L, Lee A, Choe M, Zaky W, Mantus G, Jensen JL, Chen WH, Gohain N, Bai H, McCracken MK, Mason RD, Leggat D, Slike BM, Tran U, Jian N, Abbink P, Peterson R, Mendes EA, Freitas de Oliveira Franca R, Calvet GA, Bispo de Filippis AM, McDermott A, Roederer M, Hernandez M, Albertus A, Davidson E, Doranz BJ, Rolland M, Robb ML, Lynch RM, Barouch DH, Jarman RG, Thomas SJ, Modjarrad K, Michael NL, Krebs SJ, Joyce MG. Sankhala RS, et al. Cell Rep. 2023 Aug 29;42(8):112942. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112942. Epub 2023 Aug 9. Cell Rep. 2023. PMID: 37561630 Free PMC article.
See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

-