Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36114906›Full record

ArticleJournal of assisted reproduction and genetics2022

Sperm quality is not affected by the BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine: results of a 6-14 months follow-up.

Gilad Karavani, Henry H Chill, Cherut Meirman, Einat Gutman-Ido, Shmuel Herzberg, Tachover Tzipora, Tal Imbar, Assaf Ben-Meir

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Gilad KaravaniInfertility and IVF Unit, Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. Giladk84@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1848-4560
Henry H ChillDivision of Urogynecology, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Skokie, IL, USA.
Cherut MeirmanDepartment of Family Medicine, Rabin Medical Center, Tel Aviv & Dan districts, Clalit, Israel.
Einat Gutman-IdoDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Shmuel HerzbergInfertility and IVF Unit, Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Tachover TziporaInfertility and IVF Unit, Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Tal ImbarInfertility and IVF Unit, Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Assaf Ben-MeirInfertility and IVF Unit, Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWe aimed to investigate the possible effect of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination on sperm quality by evaluating semen analyses of men prior to vaccination and 6-14 months after vaccination.

methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study, conducted in a university-affiliated in vitro fertilization center between October 2021 and March 2022, including men not previously infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus who received at least 2 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Semen analyses of samples given pre-vaccination and 6-14 months post-vaccination were analyzed for the parameters of volume, concentration, motility, morphology, and total motile count (TMC) and compared. These parameters were also compared separately for men who received a third (booster) dose and for men with pre-vaccination normal and abnormal sperm. Correlations between time from vaccination and post-vaccination sperm parameters were also assessed.

resultsFifty-eight men were included in the final analysis. Semen volume (2.9 ± 1.4 vs. 2.9 ± 1.6 ml), sperm concentration (42.9 ± 37.9 vs. 51.5 ± 46.2 million/ml), motility (42.5 ± 23.1 vs. 44.3 ± 23.4 percent), morphology (8.8 ± .16.6 vs. 6.6 ± 8.8 percent), and TMC (55.7 ± 57.9 vs. 71.1 ± 77.1 million) were comparable between the pre- and post-vaccination samples. This was true for the entire study cohort, for the subgroup of men who received a third dose and for the subgroups of men with a pre-vaccination normal and abnormal semen samples. No correlation was found between time from vaccination and post-vaccination sperm parameters.

conclusionsThe Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine does not impair any of the sperm parameters over a relatively long-time interval of 6 to 14 months from vaccination.

Indexed as

COVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesBNT162 VaccineFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleRetrospective StudiesRNA, MessengerSARS-CoV-2SemenSpermatozoaBNT162 VaccineCOVID-19 VaccinesRNA, MessengerBNT162b2 vaccineCOVID-19FertilitySARS-CoV-2 vaccineSperm parameters

Identifiers

PMID36114906
PMCPMC9483282

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.