Sex during the coronavirus

Russian sanitary doctors have not yet reached the hands of recommendations on the rules of sex during the coronavirus, some doctors are limited to vague instructions that can be interpreted in two ways. But in the West, there are plenty of instructions on how to do it correctly in a pandemic. We studied the issue and identified 7 safety rules for sex during the coronavirus.

Is it okay to have sex

Immunologist Valery Chereshnev, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recently said in an interview that sex maintains immunity, which is so necessary to resist COVID-19. Since it is a “powerful discharge”, which helps to relieve psychological stress. He just said, “Sex? Why not?” In a word, approved.

Who risks the least?

Of course, married couples who are in joint self-isolation. It is not necessary for them to somehow additionally protect themselves (from coronavirus), the New York City Department of Health claims in its guidelines. Did you use condoms? Good. Didn’t use? That’s your business. Infectionists are encouraging: they do not have reliable data that COVID-19 is transmitted sexually. On the mucous membranes of intimate organs – both male and female – SARS-CoV-2, at least not yet detected

Is it dangerous for spouses to sleep together?

By splitting up, you will not protect yourself much. After all, direct contacts with close people are already enough. But hands, faces and other places for kissing should be washed more often. Especially those who from time to time have to visit some more or less crowded place. And for those who just returned from a walk, washing will not hurt. Enough soap and water. Zealous with antibacterial soaps or antiseptics in intimate places is not worth it – they completely destroy all microorganisms, including favorable ones, and worsen the barrier function of the skin.

What if you feel unwell?

Give up sex. Even if you still want to. The distance between partners in sex is too small, breathing is intense – some virus will definitely get on the mucous membrane. This is too close contact.

Masks will somewhat reduce the risk of infection, as well as postures in which the faces of the partners are as far apart as possible. This is when a man looks at the back of a woman’s head. But it is impossible to completely hide from the infection.

Well, if one of you is sick with COVID-19 or, as established, tolerates it asymptomatically (and the other of the partners is healthy), intimate contacts should definitely be stopped. If possible, isolate the infected person in a separate room.

How to be unmarried and single?

In a pandemic, even regular lovers and mistresses become dangerous. And sex during the coronavirus with unfamiliar people is even more so. Not to mention the services of sex workers. What will they bring with them from the dangerous “outside”? No one can guarantee that a visitor for tea is healthy, even if he shows a certificate – you can theoretically get infected with COVID right there, in the laboratory, by passing a clean test, and a person becomes contagious even before the onset of symptoms.

Experts understand your concern, but insist that any close contact outside the inner circle is fraught with the risk of infection, and even more so sexual. And it would be wise to keep them to a minimum. And it’s better to refuse altogether. For the time being. Stay alive and well – then catch up.

And if it’s completely unbearable … Remember that the surest way to transmit the infection is airborne, that is, through saliva. Therefore, kissing with strangers is strictly contraindicated. Otherwise, the precautionary measures are no different from those that should be used for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

What about older people?

For those who are enrolled in the risk zone for coronavirus – people 65+, no special instructions are prescribed in terms of sexual activity during self-isolation. There is a libido – then go ahead! With one single restriction: the partner must be isolated in the same apartment as you. Now is not the time to look to the side.

Can you get infected through oral sex?

Doctors are not unanimous here. Infectionists, epidemiologists, urologists, oncologists, and reproductive medicine specialists from a large international team of 15 specialists from American and other universities did not find SARS-CoV-2 in the semen of their 34 patients who recovered from COVID-19 with mild to moderate symptoms. They concluded: through oral sex – from partner to partner – COVID-19 cannot be transmitted.

The picture was spoiled by other doctors – from the Chinese hospital in the city of Shangqiu. After examining 38 patients, they found coronaviruses in the semen of six of them.

Who to believe? Or rather, what? Experts emphasize: both studies are not representative enough to draw final conclusions. And the last one is not entirely clear. The Chinese did not seem to find the viruses themselves in an active, that is, in an infectious form, but only their genetic traces.

So it looks like these harmful SARS-CoV-2 don’t get to the sperm. But all doubts about its absolute purity can be removed only by the results of extensive research.

BTW!

The New York City Department of Health has compiled a safety rating for intimate contact. And in the first place put forward sex with himself. That is masturbation, in scientific terms.

“You are your most reliable sexual partner,” the prepared memo says. Logically.

But here, too, experts advise caution: every time before and after the “most reliable partnership”, wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds. Suddenly, viruses brought from outside lurked on the hands? For the same reason, sex toys should be washed just as thoroughly. Viruses can stick to them too.

Popular questions and answers

Questions related to skes during coronavirus were answered by allergist-immunologist of the highest category, Ph.D. Ksenia Bocharova.