The dengue virus could cause spontaneous erections lasting several hours, according to doctors who treated a teenager affected by the disease and who had arterial priapism for 18 hours.
- Doctors in Burkina Faso reported the case of a teenager infected with dengue who had an erection for 18 hours.
- This is the first reported link between the virus and arterial priapism.
- The young patient was treated and had no after-effects from this prolonged erection.
Fever, severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, fatigue… Here is the list of symptoms of dengue fever. Arterial priapism – spontaneous and prolonged erection without sexual arousal – could join them.
Doctors from Burkina Faso reported in the journal Urology Case Reports from March 2024, the case of a 17-year-old patient affected by dengue who had an erection for more than 18 hours.
Dengue: the virus could cause priapism
The patient, nicknamed AS, was hospitalized in the nephrology department for five days for acute ischemic and pigmentary tubular necrosis (a form of renal failure, Editor’s note) linked to the severe dengue fever he had contracted. During hospitalization, healthcare professionals noticed that the 17-year-old had a “non-painful and persistent erection” And “produced spontaneously without any sexual stimulation, without any notion of trauma or triggering factor”. It lasted more than 18 hours.
For health professionals, this rare disorder, called arterial priapism, was caused by the presence of the virus in the blood vessels of the penis. It would have caused a plasma leak into the organ. “These vascular leaks and hemorrhagic manifestations, when occurring in the cavernous arteries, can bypass the helicin arteries by passing directly from a cavernous artery into the corpora cavernosa tissues. This will result in unregulated arterial blood flow into the corpora cavernosa , causing high flow priapism”explain the experts in their article.
Prolonged erection: the patient has no after-effects
To try to stop this prolonged erection, the doctors decided to place an ice pack on the swollen member. The penis returned to its normal size within 48 hours. The patient also received antiviral drugs to fight dengue fever.
The medical team saw the teenager again 3 months and 6 months after his hospitalization. He expressed no complaints then. He was healthy and able to have normal erections without any problems.
The patient’s somewhat embarrassing situation turns out to be the first reported case of arterial priapism during dengue infection. “To our knowledge, no association of this type has already been described in the literature”, write the authors. They add : “This case provides us with a unique opportunity to deepen our understanding of the complex interactions between dengue and priapism, pushing the boundaries of our medical expertise”. According to them, further studies should be carried out to understand the mechanisms involved and the potential clinical implications.
