Effect of COVID-19 vaccination on the menstrual cycle

Chao, Melissa; Menon, Carlo; Elgendi, Mohamed

doi:10.3389/fmed.2022.1065421

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…These underline the importance of listening to community-level concerns about public health interventions including vaccines. 5 Coupled with existing information that these changes are temporary; 5,17 we trust this will validate the experiences and reassure those who have experienced menstrual cycle changes following vaccination. Knowledge of our findings will prepare people considering future vaccinations for temporarily altered cycles and make informed decisions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…2 Menstrual health is a sign of female health and is important to improving global population health 3,4 .While variability is common, surveys, menstrual tracking apps and spontaneous surveillance systems added to growing data suggesting an association of menstrual cycle changes with COVID-19 vaccination. 5 A 2023 cohort study did not find an association between increased menstrual cycle disorder consultations and COVID-19 vaccination in premenopausal women 3 .Heavy menstrual bleeding was added to the product information for mRNA vaccines in the European Union in October 2022 6 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Menstrual cycle changes increased following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination: Social media validation and self-controlled case series analysis

Shetty,

Kattan,

Javed

et al. 2023

Preprint

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ObjectivesTo investigate if there was an increase in menstrual abnormality related presentation post COVID-19 vaccination.DesignBERTopic machine learning, with a guided topic modelling option was used to analyse mentions of menstrual change in relation to COVID-19 vaccination on the social media platform Reddit. Self-controlled case series (SCCS) analysis using general practice data collected via the POpulation Level Analysis and Reporting (POLAR) tool with permission from Primary Health Networks (PHNs) as the de-identified dataset owners in Victoria and New South Wales.SettingGlobally for social media analysis. Victoria and New South Wales (NSW), Australia for POLARParticipantsFor social media analysis, people who made a Reddit post about menstrual concerns post COVID-19 vaccine. For the SCCS analysis, people who presented to a POLAR GP registered practice with a new menstrual abnormality diagnosis.ExposuresCOVID-19 vaccination with adenovirus vector [AstraZeneca’s Vaxzervria® ChadOx1-S], mRNA [Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty® BNT162b2 and Moderna’s Spikevax®] or protein-subunit [Novavax’s Nuvaxovid®]).Outcomes and MeasuresScraped social media posts were pre-processed, analysed for positive, negative, and neutral sentiments and topic modelled. Menstrual abnormality presentations of interest were isolated from the general practice dataset aggregated by POLAR, by searching for relevant SNOMED CT codes. Similarly, relative incidence (RI) was calculated for all COVID-19 vaccine types.ResultsSocial media analysis saw peaks in menstrual change posts on Reddit since the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The SCCS analysis demonstrates an increase in general practice presentations of menstrual abnormality diagnosis following mRNA vaccines (RI= 1.14, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.22,P<0.001).Conclusions and RelevanceThis study demonstrates an increase in menstrual abnormality presentations following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. Our findings validate the concerns raised on social media so people who are vaccinated or are considering future vaccines feel heard, supported, and validated. Our analysis highlights the importance of using large real-world datasets to gather reliable evidence for public health decision making.Summary boxSection 1: What is already known on this topic?Surveys and spontaneous surveillance systems suggested and association of menstrual cycle changes with COVID-19 vaccination.Heavy menstrual bleeding was added to the product information for mRNA vaccines in the European UnionSection 2: What this study adds?Our study is the first to prove an increase in menstrual abnormality related presentations post mRNA COVID-19 vaccines using routinely collected general practice data.Our findings validate the concerns raised by people who menstruate and help them with their future decision to vaccinate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Menstrual cycle changes increased following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination: Social media validation and self-controlled case series analysis

Shetty,

Kattan,

Javed

et al. 2023

Preprint

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show abstract

“…In a study conducted by Burgmann et al of 485 644 postmenopausal women, COVID‐19 vaccination was not associated with a significant increase in postmenopausal bleeding 24 . Acknowledging the fact that changes in menstrual cycle are usually linked to disturbances in hormonal levels, COVID‐19 vaccines might have an influence on those hormones, thus leading to premenopausal changes and postmenopausal bleeding 25 . One of the main hypotheses is that the vaccine can induce an immunological reaction that can have a direct effect on the hypothalamic–pituitary‐ovarian axis, thus leading to menstrual changes 26 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…24 Acknowledging the fact that changes in menstrual cycle are usually linked to disturbances in hormonal levels, COVID-19 vaccines might have an influence on those hormones, thus leading to premenopausal changes and postmenopausal bleeding. 25 One of the main hypotheses is that the vaccine can induce an immunological reaction that can have a direct effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, thus leading to menstrual changes. 26 In our study, menstrual cycle changes have been influenced…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of COVID‐19 vaccinations on menstrual cycle and postmenopausal bleeding among health care workers: A cross‐sectional study

Farah

Hijazi

Aoun

et al. 2023

Intl J Gynecology & Obste

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Objective To determine the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) vaccination and its association with sociodemographic factors on the menstrual cycle in premenopausal women and on postmenopausal bleeding. Methods This is a retrospective cross‐sectional study conducted between September 22, 2022, and November 30, 2022, via a questionnaire distributed to 359 health care workers (HCWs) at Lebanese American University Medical Center–Rizk Hospital and St John's Hospital. Inclusion criteria included female Lebanese HCWs who were vaccinated and aged 18 to 65 years. Results Change in cycle length was significantly associated with age (P = 0.025 after the first dose and P = 0.017 after the second dose), level of education (P = 0.013 after the first dose and P = 0.012 after the second dose), and fibroids (P = 0.006 after the second dose and P = 0.003 after the third dose). The change in cycle flow was significantly associated with age (P = 0.028), fibroids (P = 0.002 after the second dose and P = 0.002 after the third dose), bleeding disorders (P = 0.000), and chronic medications (P = 0.007). The change in symptoms was associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (P = 0.021), chronic medications (P = 0.019 after the second dose and P = 0.045 after the third dose), and fibroids (P = 0.000). Conclusion COVID‐19 vaccination can influence the menstrual cycle. Age, body mass index, level of education, underlying comorbidities, and use of chronic medications are significantly associated with changes in menstrual length, flow, and symptoms following vaccination.

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“…There were also global reports of temporary menstrual changes and irregularities soon after covid-19 vaccinations, including heavier bleeding, longer and more frequent periods, missed periods, and breakthrough bleeding in those who do not normally menstruate 262728. Menstrual changes have also been reported after human papillomavirus vaccinations29 and viral infections are also known to induce menstrual changes in some instances 2930.…”

Section: Sex and Gender Gaps In Covid-19 Vaccine Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%