The novel coronavirus pandemic has been ravaging the world for a few months now, with 1.4 million confirmed cases across the globe and over 80,000 deaths. But despite that, even scientists are scrambling why COVID-19, the disease brought by the virus, has no universal symptom.
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have listed the most common symptoms of the virus, which include dry cough and fever, there are still accounts of COVID-19 patients experiencing uncommon symptoms.
An Atypical COVID-19 Case
TechTimes has previously reported a case of a young woman who tested positive for coronavirus but only experienced fever and a unique symptom of losing her sense of hearing.
This time around, an American man hailing from Massachusetts, aged 42-years old, had also tested positive for the viral infection when he went to the hospital due to testicular pain, doctors revealed.
Medics from the Harvard Medical School described this "atypical" case in the medical journal The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
According to the case report, the patient did not have a cough or shortness of breath, which are two telltale signs of coronavirus.
However, he did have a fever, but it had vanished after two days and that he was treated for constipation days prior, according to the Daily Mail.
What he did experience was body pain, which is becoming a key symptom of COVID-19 after several patients have reported experiencing it.
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A 'Stabbing Sensation'
The man experienced a "stabbing sensation" that originated from his groins and spread to his back, stomach, and chest, and that he had been experiencing it for eight days before going to the hospital.
Dr. Jesi Kim, the lead author of the case report, said that the physical examination found nothing abnormal in the area, although they did find some tenderness in the stomach area.
Additionally, an X-ray of his chest was done, but it came back clear.
Nevertheless, what the X-ray did not show was damage to his lungs, which was caught by the CT scan. After the test, he was diagnosed with pneumonia.
Two days later, his test results for coronavirus arrived, and he tested positive after he attended a conference in Boston and has been linked to several confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Could Coronavirus Cause Damage to Male Reproductive Organs?
According to doctors at the Harvard Medical School, testicular pain is not a symptom of the coronavirus infection. Still, they warned of the "atypical presentation" of COVID-19--and the American man is reportedly not the first to experience it.
In February, scientists from China claimed that the virus could attack the male reproductive organ, speculating that the virus binds with the cells that are abundant in the testicles, causing "tissue damage."
Nevertheless, experts say that men should not be terrified and that the report is inconclusive and will require robust research before linking COVID-19 to any testicular damage.
According to the medics who have shared the case, they wanted to present it as a lesson they have learned from the front lines and bring awareness to atypical COVID-19 cases as "they continue to present."
