Cristina Hodgson
CORONAVIRUS may cause men’s testicles to swell and impair their ability to have children, Spanish scientits have warned.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), fever, dry cough and shortness of breath are the defining clinical aspects of COVID-19.
Other less common symptoms include aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis and headaches.
However, scientists are now documenting a growing list of atypical coronavirus symptoms now that doctors have more insight into the emerging disease.
Many of these symptoms remain rare, and scientists don’t yet know if they are directly caused by coronavirus.
The rare symptoms have been detected in a study called ‘Unusual Manifestations of COVID-19’, headed up by six Spanish scientists.
The research is based on the analysis of 63,822 hospital records of patients who attended the emergency departments of 50 Spanish hospitals during the first wave of the pandemic.
The objective behind the study was to identify cases that presented unusual manifestations to coronavirus.
This group of researchers, together with other scientists, have identified the following three unsusual symtoms:
- Skin lesions
Researchers from the Hospital Niño Jesus and the Pathological Anatomy Services of the Hospital 12 de Octubre and the Fundacion Jimenez Diaz in Madrid have shown that coronavirus is visible in some skin lesions.
This group of scientists has managed to show the presence of coronavirus in the endothelial cells (cells lining the blood vessels) which may lead to a red or purple rash resembling frostbite or chilblains.
According to the study, during the height of the pandemic, in just one week the Infant Jesus’ Emergencies received more than 30 cases of children with skin lesions resembling frostbite or chilblains.
- Loss of smell and taste
According to the results of a study carried out by the group of Young Researchers of the International Federation of Societies of Otorhinolaryngology (IFOS), with the support of the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology and other European societies, smell and taste are also affected by COVID-19.
The findings, published in the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology journal, indicate a total loss of smell is possible without nasal obstruction or rhinorrhoea as occurs in the common cold.
Additionally, this loss of smell and taste makes it difficult to distinguish sweet, salty and bitter flavours,
- Testicle pain
Another lesser-known symptom is the swelling of the testicles.
This potential condition is painful and could lead to fertility problems if no action is taken, experts warn.
Spanish scientists highlight a scientific study which has had its conclusions published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
The study covered the treatment of a patient who had swollen testicles after testing positive for coronavirus.
This publication explains that the patient, in addition to the typical symptoms of the disease, arrived at the hospital with severe testicular pain.
According to the study, treatment with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories solves this pathology which, if not treated, could damage the quality of the spermatozoa and therefore the patient’s fertility.
In addition to this medical case, the study includes other cases of coronavirus positives who also experienced inflammation in the testicles.
