COVID 19 vaccination does not affect fertility, study finds
Washington US January 23 ANI A recent study has quashed rumours that COVID 19 vaccine leads to infertility.
The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, states that COVID 19 vaccination does not appear to affect fertility.
A prospective study of couples trying to conceive found no association between COVID 19 vaccination and fecundability - the probability of conception per menstrual cycle in female or male partners who received the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson Johnson vaccines.
In contrast, the findings indicated that COVID 19 infection among males may temporarily reduce fertility, an outcome that could be avoided through vaccination.
Many reproductive-aged individuals have cited concerns about fertility as the reason for remaining unvaccinated, said study lead author Dr Amelia Wesselink, research assistant professor of epidemiology at the BUSPH.
Our study shows for the first time that COVID 19 vaccination in either partner is unrelated to fertility among couples trying to conceive through intercourse. She said that time-to- pregnancy was very similar regardless of vaccine status.
Wesselink and colleagues analyzed data on COVID 19 vaccination and infection, and fecundability, among female and male participants in the BUSPH-based Pregnancy Study Online PRESTO, an ongoing NIH-funded study that enrolls women trying to conceive and follow them from preconception through six months after delivery.
The participants included 2,126 women in the US and Canada who provided information on sociodemographics, lifestyle, medical factors, and characteristics of their partners from December 2020 to September 2021, and were followed by November 2021 in the study.
The researchers used self-reported dates of participants' last menstrual period, typical menstrual cycle length, and pregnancy status to calculate the per menstrual cycle probability of conception. Almost all female participants who received at least one dose of a vaccine were nearly identical to non-vaccinated female participants.
Fecundability was similar for male partners who had received at least one dose of a COVID- 19 vaccine compared with unvaccinated male participants. There was no effect of vaccination on fertility as a result of other analyses that included the number of vaccine doses, the brand of vaccine, infertility history, occupation, and the geographic region.
While COVID 19 infection was not strongly associated with fertility, men who tested positive for COVID within 60 days of a given cycle had reduced fertility, compared to men who never tested positive or men who tested positive at least 60 days prior to the cycle. This data supports previous research that has linked COVID 19 infection in men with poor sperm quality and other reproductive dysfunction.
The data provides reassuring evidence that COVID vaccination in either partner does not affect fertility among couples trying to conceive, said senior author Dr Lauren Wise, professor of epidemiology at BUSPH.
She said that the study design, large sample size, and geographically heterogeneous study population are study strengths, as was our control for many variables such as age, socioeconomic status, pre-existing health conditions, occupation, and stress levels.