Sperm conditions in the male participants remained at healthy levels.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — The potential negative impact of the Covid-19 vaccine on male fertility This is one of the reasons some people are worried about getting vaccinated. According to a new study published in the journal JAMA, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do not harm male fertility.
The study involved 45 healthy male volunteers aged 18 to 50 years. They found that the sperm conditions in the participants remained at healthy levels after receiving two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
The study by the University of Miami in the US is expected to bring clarity and persuade men to want to be vaccinated. “One of the reasons for vaccine hesitation is the potential negative effect on fertility,” said the study authors from the University of Miami in the US. First Post, Wednesday (30/6).
“Because reproductive toxicity was not evaluated in clinical trials, and SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with decreased sperm parameters, we assessed sperm parameters before and after mRNA vaccine administration,” the researchers said.
In a report published in the journal Reproduction in January 2021, researchers say Covid-19 can cause increased sperm cell death, inflammation and so-called oxidative stress. “These findings provide the first direct experimental evidence that the male reproductive system can be targeted and damaged by Covid-19,” the authors at the time concluded.
Experts commenting on the study, however, say the capacity of the virus to interfere with fertility in men remains unproven.
Previously, in 2020, a new study in China showed that SARS-CoV-2 could affect the process of spermatogenesis (sperm formation) and cause low sperm count. The study’s findings were published in the open access journal EClinical Medicine and also published in the journal The Lancet. However, the potential impact of the Covid-19 vaccine on male fertility was not part of this study.
How are University of Miami studies conducted?
The participants were screened first to make sure they didn’t have any underlying fertility problems. Those with Covid-19 symptoms or a positive test result within 90 days were excluded from the study.
The men provided semen samples two to seven days before receiving the first dose of vaccine and about 70 days after the second injection. Semen analysis was performed by a trained andrologist according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, including semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility, and total motile sperm count (TMSC).
In the study of sperm parameters before and after two doses of the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine, there was no significant reduction in sperm parameters among this small group of healthy men. Sperm concentration and total motile sperm count at the start of the study were 26 million/milliliter (mL) and 36 million, respectively. After the second vaccine dose, the mean sperm concentration increased significantly to 30 million/mL and the median TMSC to 44 million.
“Semen volume and sperm motility were also significantly increased,” the researchers said.
The limitations of this study were the small number of men enrolled, the short follow-up, and the lack of a control group.
The researchers also note that while semen analysis is the basis of the evaluation of male fertility, it is an imperfect predictor of potential fertility.
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