A year and a half after the start of vaccination, the disinformation about drugs against COVID-19 it keeps going viral. A tweet says that the Pfizer vaccine reduces sperm count in men, but the statement is falsa.
The information was published by The National Pulsean American portal dedicated to publishing “real news and investigations”, but its content is mostly disinformation. On its page, it says that it was founded in 2016 as a political campaign blog and that as of 2020, it became a news and podcast page.
In 2021, this rumor spread in countries like spain y USA. Despite the fact that local media and health organizations denied this information, this year there have been new research that suggest the possibility that the vaccine does affect the fertility.
The Data Verification and Fact-checking Unit of Cocuyo effect reviewed the study cited in the publication and statements from health institutions to check the veracity of the information.
About the study
The National Pulse quoted a research Israeli who investigated the parameters of semen after vaccination against COVID-19 with the injection of Pfizer-BioNTech. The article is supported by sperm donor banks and medical centers in that country.
The interval of days post – vaccination analyzed were: 15 to 45 days, 75 to 120 days, more than 120 days. With 220 samples evaluatedthe study concluded that there was a decrease in the sperm concentration of the -15,4% in samples 75-120 days after injection.
However, for the period of 120 days or morethe study revealed that semen volume and sperm motility were not affected.
What the health agencies say
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines affect male fertility.
The agency cited a study in which 45 healthy men who received the mRNA vaccine and sperm characteristics (quantity and movement) were analyzed before and after injection. But no significant changes were observed after vaccination.
However, the institution mentioned another research that links the decreased fertility in men with COVID-19 infection up to 60 days after infection.
Other considerations
In a verification job of the same content, the portal Reuters consulted Ying Cheong, professor of reproductive medicine and director of the Complete Fertility clinic (located in Southampton, UK) about the “damage” to male sperm caused by vaccines.
The specialist stated: “I am not aware of any literature that suggests this and I would suspect that these claims are largely unfounded and, if there were studies, they should be be uncontrolled studies of small sample size in unconventional magazines.
Vaccine monitoring mechanisms in different countries such as United Kingdom have received between 100,000 and 200,000 reports side effects of injections against COVID-19. Nevertheless, not all symptoms reported are considered a consequence of vaccinations.
In a denial of the Spanish media RTVEFrançois Peinado, head of the Urology Service at the Ruber Juan Bravo Hospital in Madrid, was quoted as saying that the analyzes on the alleged infertility with few cases «they have no significance»
There are no recent studies with significant populations in communications from health agencies to confirm that Pfizer’s COVID-19 (or messenger RNA) vaccine reduces sperm count in men. For this reason, to date (this Wednesday, June 29) the viral information is false.
You can forward strings, social media posts, or information you want to verify to [email protected] or to the number of WhatsApp (0412) 015-0022and thus you will be helping to combat disinformation.
–
