Share on PinterestRecently, researchers have been looking at the possible impact of COVID-19 vaccines on periods. Stringer / Anadolu Agency through Getty Images
- The impact of the COVID-19 vaccine on menstruation was not measured during any of the clinical trials, but now studies are analyzing people’s reports to see if there is a link.
- A recent study has linked the COVID-19 vaccine to more intense menstrual flow and unexpected vaginal bleeding in some people.
- Reports of changes in the menstrual cycle indicate that they are temporary and short-lived, but women and people who are menstruating or who have menstruated need reliable information to make informed decisions and hopefully combat the doubt of the vaccine.
There have been tens of thousands of reports of changes in menstrual cycles around the world after vaccination against COVID-19, but no link has yet been demonstrated or denied.
This is due in part to the failure of pharmaceutical companies to include questions about menstruation in their trials so far.
Dr. Viki Male, a professor of reproductive immunology at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, designed vaccine protocols for clinical trials of the Ebola vaccine. He explained why not capturing menstrual data during COVID-19 vaccine trials was a missed opportunity in an email to Medical News Today:
“Because clinical trials are double-blind, even the very simple question,‘ Did you notice any changes in your menstrual bleeding or did you experience any unexpected vaginal bleeding? ’Would have been extremely powerful: does the control group mean that we would have a good idea of the background rate of these changes in the relevant population and the fact that it is blind means that people’s expectations of seeing a change would not have affected the reports.In the future, I hope a simple question like this is routinely included “.
“Investigate if and how [COVID-19] Vaccination affects menstrual periods and advanced bleeding has been brought up to date as this information was not collected during the trials. ”- Dr. Viki Male
The first study published with funding from the National Institutes of Health to investigate a link was published in January 2022 and showed that vaccination could affect the cycle but not the duration of menstruation.
Now, a new study has looked at not only menstrual flow changes in those with a regular menstrual cycle, but also unexpected vaginal bleeding in people who already had menstruation but no longer do so due to the use of hormonal contraception, menopause, or gender affirmative hormone treatment. .
To investigate whether or not there was a link between changes in menstruation or unexpected vaginal bleeding after vaccination, a team led by Dr. Kathryn Clancy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL designed a survey for vaccinated people who had not done so. had COVID-19 and collected data on people’s ethnic identity, gender identity, age, and vaccination.
The first lead author, Dr. Katharine Lee, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington at St. Louis, MO, told MNT in an interview that they did not want to delay participants ’vaccinations.
“We chose to do this study design because we’re very supportive of the vaccine. So we didn’t want to try to enroll people who were vaccinated or unvaccinated or tell people to wait to be vaccinated. We were like, so as soon as you can get it, you should definitely get vaccinated. “
“But what we did want to hear were people’s experiences because of the variety of stories that came up when [Dr. Kathryn Clancy] tweeted about his period in February last year. ”- Dra. Katharine Lee
The researchers shared the survey on Twitter and other social media platforms and then analyzed the analyzed data collected between April 7, 2021 and June 29, 2021. Nine out of 10 of the 39,129 participants were identified as to women, while one in 10 participants identified as women. diverse genres.
Participants were asked about the flow of their period and the length of the cycle and medical history. They were then asked about their experiences of their menstrual cycle after the first and second dose of their COVID-19 vaccines.
Of participants with a regular menstrual cycle, 42% said they bled more than usual, while 44% said they had not changed after being vaccinated.
Of the postmenopausal individuals who responded to the survey, 66% reported advanced bleeding, along with 71% of people with long-acting reversible contraceptives and 39% of people with hormones who claim gender.
An additional analysis found that respondents with gynecologic conditions were at higher risk for more abundant bleeding after vaccination. People who experienced fever and fatigue after vaccination had been pregnant or given birth or who normally had a mild menstrual flow were also more likely to report more intense bleeding after COVID-19 vaccination.
Hispanic and Latino respondents were more likely than any other ethnic group to report more heavy bleeding after vaccination if they had a regular menstrual cycle and to report sudden bleeding if they were postmenopausal.
The inclusion of participants recruited after vaccination could present some bias, as people were more likely to participate in a study if they thought they were affected, Dr. Male said in an email.
“We can’t use this study to determine how common it is to experience a change in flow after vaccination because people who have experienced a change are more likely to complete the survey, but we can look for patterns that can give us an idea of who “You ‘re more at risk for change,” he said.
Dr. Clancy told MNT that the goal of the project was never to assess prevalence, as only a prospective study can do. He said they tried to draw attention to the problems people were experiencing after receiving disbelief and unfair treatment.
Dr. Clancy said they intended “[t]Collect these experiences and understand them better, and give patients a real voice in this phenomenon that they have a place to share what is happening. “