SARS-COV-2 and female reproductive system

Abstract

Virus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 infection, is transmitted mainly by respiratory droplets and its clinical manifestations vary according to the severity of the disease. The respiratory system is the most affected, but other possible forms of transmission are hypothesized. SARS-CoV-2 enters the cell through the binding of the spike protein of the virus with the ACE2 receptor (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), but it can also be mediated by proteases or cathepsins. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between the COVID-19 virus and the female reproductive system, and to investigate the possibility of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through the vaginal fluid. A literature review was carried out in the PubMed, Scielo and Web of Science databases, using the terms: “covid and female genitourinary tract”, “covid and cervical sample”, “covid and HPV”, “covid and intraepithelial lesions”, “covid and female genital tract”. Despite the few reports on the subject, some of them point to the presence of SARS-COV-2 in samples of vaginal fluid, identified by the PCR technique. Additional studies are needed in order to establish a relationship between the findings in the vaginal fluid and the correlation with infection and viral load.