While many of the symptoms of COVID-19 are well known, one new potential outcome experienced by those who become infected is being investigated by medical experts: erectile dysfunction.
The medical community is looking into this condition as part of a broader effort to understand the full impact of COVID-19. Erectile dysfunction has reportedly been observed in some patients, with further investigation required to confirm causation.
Dr. Ryan Berglund, a Cleveland Clinic urologist, said that some men have reported experiencing erectile dysfunction following a COVID-19 infection. Berglund added that such evidence is mainly anecdotal, and that “we don’t know the scale of the problem at this point.”
“Berglund stressed that it had not been proved that COVID-19 causes erectile dysfunction,” the Los Angeles Times added. “Observational studies need to be done, he said, adding that a helpful one would be to study men in the same age group with similar health status to see if rates of erectile dysfunction differ depending on whether they have the coronavirus.”
“That, we haven’t gotten to yet,” Berglund said, before explaining that “anything that could affect the ability of the artery to effectively deliver sufficient blood supply to create an erection could lead to erectile dysfunction.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Emmanuele Jannini, professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, said that such a medical outcome would not be surprising, adding that erectile dysfunction could be a symptom of so-called “long COVID.”
According to Jannini, the risk is likely higher for patients whose COVID-19 infection resulted in pneumonia. The condition “triggers inflammation of the blood vessels — specifically, endothelial cells that line the body’s blood vessels,” Jannini said, who then explained that “When those blood vessels and the rest of the cardiovascular system are harmed, it can trigger erectile dysfunction,” and that he “suspects erectile dysfunction that occurs after COVID-19 could last long after the disease has resolved.”
Berglund also used the possibility that COVID-19 can cause erectile dysfunction as a reason for younger people to be vaccinated.
“Having vaccinations leads to having more sex,” he joked. “I would suggest for young people to get their vaccinations: If they want to have sex, better to get the vaccine.”
On Tuesday, President Biden and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki sparked outrage after both spoke of a “door-to-door” approach to convince Americans to get vaccinated in response to COVID-19.
As The Daily Wire reported, Biden said, “We are continuing to wind down the mass vaccination sites that did so much in the spring to rapidly vaccinate those eager to get their first shot and their second shot for that matter if they needed a second. Now we need to go community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood, and oftentimes door to door, literally knocking on doors to get help to the remaining people, protected from the virus.”