NEW YORK – Health officials think that there are high chances of Ebola virus getting spread through unprotected sex. Ebola has killed thousands of people around the world, but the numbers can go a lot higher if health experts don’t look into a newly published report seriously.
Those people who have survived Ebola in the near past can transmit it to others through sex twice as swift as previously believed.
Earlier scientists thought that Ebola could remain in the semen for three months at most, but a recent case in West Africa suggests that infection through unprotected sex can happen more than five months later.
What is the road ahead
There is no other way than protection to stop this infection at this point. Doctors have analyzed this case effectively and advised all the male Ebola survivors not to involve in unprotected sexual relations. Previously, doctors had advised Ebola survivors to use condoms for three months, at least.
What led doctors to this conclusion
Health experts released a report on Friday, which covered the case of a 44-year-old Liberian woman, who was found Ebola affected. As per the report, her infections likely came from a 46-yeal-old man, who was affected by Ebola in the last September.
She had sex with this man in March and died within a week’s time. He had sex with another woman at the same time, who was also tested negative.
The Ebola virus spreads if a person comes in direct contact with the blood or other fluids like saliva, urine, sweat and semen of another one who’s affected by Ebola. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control, a few investigations carried out recently confirmed the transmission of Ebola virus through unprotected sex in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
However, none of these cases have been confirmed yet. The number of such cases can increase in the near future if not paid enough attention.
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