‘Potential’ link between vaccines and menstruation changes
pharmafile | August 9, 2021 | News story | Sales and Marketing |
France’s health body has said changes in women’s menstrual cycles are a “potential” side effect of receiving the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
In France, 49 reports of menstrual issues following vaccination with the Moderna vaccine and 261 following the Pfizer vaccine have been reported since the start of the vaccine campaign in January 2021, but no link has been officially proven, as reported in The Connexion.
The figures were given by the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé (ANSM).
Of the cases reported in France, 36 are considered “serious”. The rest have been described as “for the majority not serious, but unexpected”.
ANSM added that 78% of unusual symptoms had improved over time among those who received the Moderna vaccine, and 63% for the Pfizer vaccine.
A number of symptoms were reported post vaccine, such as prolonged or heavier periods, delayed periods, increased pain or accompanied by flu-like symptoms, and an increase in pre-menstrual symptoms.
In the UK, researchers from Bristol University wrote in June: “Unfortunately questions over menstruation have been excluded from most large studies into COVID-19, including clinical trials for vaccines.
“As such, the number of women affected by menstrual issues is unknown, as are the duration of the issues and their impact.”
Dr Hamid Merchant from Huddersfield University wrote in the British Medical Journal: “Clinicians and front-line healthcare workers are advised to encourage women to report heavy menstrual bleeding or other extraordinary bleeding events post-vaccination formally into the vaccine adverse events reporting system and seek prompt medical advice.
“Public health agencies and regulatory authorities are also requested to investigate these incidences and issue further warnings, as this can, possibly be an early sign of potentially fatal vaccine-induced prothrombotic thrombocytopenia leading to rare CVST events in younger women.”
Lilly Subbotin
