In England 36 thousand women have reported some alteration of the menstrual cycle, following the vaccination against Covid-19, including a slight delay in menstruation, an increase in duration or flow. An editorial on the British Medical Journal takes stock of the issue, analyzing the data accumulated so far. The author of the text, Victoria Male, a lecturer in reproductive medicine at Imperial College London, explains that these are short-lived and rather small changes compared to the usual variations experienced by women. Furthermore, there is no effect on fertility.
Covid. What does the vaccine have to do with the menstrual cycle
by Noemi Penna
A delay of one day
The author reviews two statistical studies, one conducted in the United States and one in Norway. The US survey, published in the magazine Obstetrics & Ginecology, is based on the use of an app and involved almost 4 thousand women, aged between 18 and 45, with normal cycles. Of them, more than half were vaccinated. Participants were monitored for a period that included 6 menstrual cycles, including 3 before vaccination and 3 more after booster. The research concludes that vaccination is associated with a small variation, averaging less than one day of delay in menstruation. Among the participants, the greatest changes occurred in a subgroup of 358 women who received both the first and second doses within the same cycle. In this sub-category, the delay was on average 2 days and, within the group, about 10% of these women had a menstruation duration after vaccination of 8 days. In any case, the alterations returned and the changes disappeared within the next 2 cycles.
After Covid altered spermatozoa, but in a few months they return to normal
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The Norwegian study, still unpublished, but previewed, on almost 6 thousand women, shows that the effect most associated with vaccination was a more abundant flow, a problem that disappeared within 2 or 3 months. The research is more than reassuring as it shows that nearly 40% of participants said they had at least one of these phenomena even in the cycles preceding the first dose.
The opinion of gynecologists
Italian gynecologists are also reassuring about this topic. “Variations of one day or more are completely normal and shouldn’t be alarming,” he points out Nicola Colacurci, Professor of Gynecology of the University of Campania and President of the Italian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (Sigo). “In addition, any small changes may be associated with stress more than the vaccine itself. Remember that psycho-physical stress is one of the main factors contributing to alterations in the menstrual cycle”.
Menstrual cycle is more irregular for many women after the Covid vaccine
by Viola Rita
In fact, it is necessary to understand what are the possible underlying mechanisms, and there are numerous events, also related to the habits of daily life, that can play a role. “Going on a diet, starting physical activity, especially if intense, for example”, adds Colacurci, “but also living through a difficult period, due to personal problems or trauma, including the pandemic”. And throughout this period of Covid, negative feelings have certainly not been lacking.