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Emerging risk of sexual transmission of Oropouche virus
  1. Ashutosh Pareek1,
  2. Runjhun Singhal1,
  3. Aaushi Pareek1,
  4. Ranjit Sah2,
  5. Alfonso J Rodriguez-Morales3,4,
  6. Vasso Apostolopoulos5
  1. 1 Department of Pharmacy, Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali, India
  2. 2 Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal
  3. 3 Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Peru
  4. 4 Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
  5. 5 School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ashutosh Pareek; ashu83aadi{at}gmail.com; Dr Vasso Apostolopoulos; vasso.apostolopoulos{at}rmit.edu.au

https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2024-056418

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    The emergence of the Oropouche virus (OROV) in the Americas, with multiple cases imported to different European countries, has raised concerns about the potential human-to-human transmission, particularly vertical transmission, and its potentially devastating impact on fetal health.1–3 These developments highlight the need for further research into the biological, immunological, epidemiological, and public health implications.

    A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) documented replication-competent OROV RNA in the semen of a 40+-year-old Italian traveller who visited Cuba in July 2024. Initially presenting with a febrile illness, he tested negative for Dengue virus (DENV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). Still, on day 4, Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed OROV in serum, whole blood and urine. While the patient recovered by day 10, OROV RNA persisted in blood and urine for 32 days and in semen for 58 days. These findings suggest possible viral replication in the genital tract or passive diffusion, with cross-contamination from urine unlikely, given the viral persistence in semen (figure 1).4 This finding highlights potential risks for male reproductive health, warranting further investigation into sexual transmission pathways.

    Figure 1

    The transmission cycle of the …

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Anna Maria Geretti

    • Correction notice This article was corrected since it was first published online. Figure 1 has been updated.

    • Contributors Ashutosh Pareek: Conceptualisation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Writing—review and editing. RS: Conceptualisation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft. Aaushi Pareek: Data curation, Formal analysis, Software, Visualisation, Writing—original draft. RS: Validation, Writing—review and editing. AJR-M: Validation, Writing—review and editing. VA: Investigation, Supervision, Validation, Writing—review and editing.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.