A man experienced a three-hour erection, before dying from complications related to Covid-19.

This rare side effect suffered by a Covid-19 positive patient was described in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine published on Jan. 1, 2021.

The man's nationality was not mentioned, but the report referenced Covid-19 data for the United States.

Obese and had trouble breathing

The 69-year-old man went to the emergency room after he continued to suffer from a shortness of breath despite his doctor already prescribing him with medication.

The journal noted that the man was obese and had been coughing for a week.

He soon developed a fever.

He was tested positive for Covid-19 by emergency room doctors.

Over the next 10 days his health worsened and he was given steroids, as well as assisted with a ventilator.

He was turned facedown to stimulate air flow through his body, a technique known as proning, that can help people with Covid-19.

Erection occurred during the end of his life

About 12 hours after his condition took a turn for the worse, a nurse discovered that the man was experiencing a strange Covid-19 symptom: An erection.

Priapism, or an unintended erection lasting hours that can feel painful, had only been reported once before by another person suffering from Covid-19.

From his prone position, the hospital staff flipped the man on his back and used ice packs to try to reduce his erection.

It did not work.

The doctors then did an ultrasound on his penis.

They diagnosed his penis as having blood-drainage issues (ischemic priapism), as his blood vessels were clear and working properly.

The doctors proceeded to insert two needles into the penile shaft to drain the excess blood -- a standard procedure for people with ischemic priapism.

They also gave him a decongestant.

Thirty minutes later, his erection was gone.

However, the man's lungs continued to worsen, and he died from Covid-19 complications soon after.

The medical journal noted that the man did not have another erection during that time.

Involuntary erection

Priapism happens when blood is unable to leave the penis or flows improperly into the penis, health website Mayo Clinic noted.

It affects people over 30.

Those with blood disorders such as sickle-cell anemia and leukemia are susceptible.

A doctor has said that a person infected with the coronavirus may suffer blood clots, which could affect the penis.

This is the result of the patient experiencing a cytokine storm that disrupts one's immune system and causes it to go out of whack.

Richard Viney, a urological surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, told the Daily Mail that little clots forming in smaller blood vessels is "one of the complications of Covid we see in many other organ systems".

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