Medicine Science (Dec 2022)

Cervicovaginal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positivity: A pilot study

  • Baris Ciplak,
  • Yahya Sahin,
  • Rukiye Akyol,
  • Fikriye Milletli Sezgin,
  • Lokman Hizmali,
  • Veysel Akca,
  • Isil Sayhan,
  • Fatma Celik,
  • Zeynep Koylu,
  • Sercan Eroglu,
  • Selda Songur Dagli,
  • Yavuz Simsek,
  • Mustafa Kara

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5455/medscience.2022.08.181
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 4
pp. 1588 – 92

Abstract

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can potentially infect female reproductive organs. In this study, we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in cervicovaginal fluid. This study included 31 female patients aged 18–65 years. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA was investigated by RT‒PCR in two separate cervicovaginal swab samples collected from patients 14 days apart. Viral RNA was extracted using Bio-Speedy ®vNAT® Viral Nucleic Acid Buffer (vNAT) solution, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA was analyzed using Bio-Speedy SARS-CoV-2 RT‒qPCR kits in a Bio-Rad CFX96 TouchTM device. First and second cervical swab samples were collected 14 days apart. The SARS-CoV-2 RNA result was negative in all 53 cervicovaginal swab samples collected. Negative SARS-CoV-2 RNA results in cervicovaginal swab samples indicate that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not sexually transmitted. However, the number of studies on this subject and the sample size examined are still insufficient for reaching this conclusion. [Med-Science 2022; 11(4.000): 1588-92]

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