The Professors of the School of Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens summarize the main points of a relevant study
Despite the reassuring safety profiles of vaccines, reluctance remains high among people of reproductive age, in part because of fertility concerns. Recent studies have shown that vaccinations with mRNA and viral vector vaccines do not affect sperm parameters in men. However, the potential effects of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines on sperm quality have not been evaluated. A new study, published in the international scientific journal JAMA Netw Open, investigated potential changes before and after vaccination with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines among men in China.
The Professors of the School of Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Ioannis Varkarakis (Professor of Urology, Sismanoglio Hospital), Vassilis Protogerou (Urologist, Associate Professor of Anatomy, Andrology Department of Attica Hospital), Stavroula (Lina) Paschou (Assistant Professor of Endocrinology, Alexandra Hospital) and Theodora Psaltopoulou (Professor of Therapeutics-Epidemiology-Preventive Medicine, Alexandra Hospital) summarize the main points of this study.
Semen parameters of patients who had received 2 full doses of either inactivated BBIBP-CorV vaccine (Sinopharm) or CoronaVac (Sinovac) collected from June 15, 2021 to April 15, 2022 were analyzed and compared with previous sperm analysis data within 1 year before vaccination . Semen collection, handling and analysis were performed according to laboratory procedures recommended by the World Health Organization.
128 men with a mean age of 31 years and a mean body mass index of 24.2 kg/m2 (normal weight) were included. Only 2 men (1.6%) reported drinking alcohol, while 43 (33.6%) were smokers. The incidence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia was 9.4%, 3.1%, and 50.8%, respectively. Participants reported an average of 1 to 2 sexual activities per week. Samples were taken 52 to 138 days after the second dose of vaccine.
Of the 128 men, 28 were oligospermic at baseline, 24 remained oligospermic at follow-up, and none became azoospermic. All parameters were similar between the prevaccination and postvaccination periods, including sperm volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, and gross and progressive motility. Given the 3-month sperm development cycle, vaccinated patients were further divided into 2 groups based on the interval after vaccination (≤90 and >90 days). Again no significant differences were observed.
In conclusion, this study demonstrated that vaccination with inactivated vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 had no detrimental effect in sperm count and motility among men in China. These findings add to the growing body of data on the reproductive safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and may be reassuring for vaccinated men planning pregnancy with their partners.
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