The news that seven women developed a rare blood clotting disorder after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson raised new questions about whether vaccines affect women differently from men, and whether there are special considerations that women should consider take when they are vaccinated.
We spoke to some experts to learn what women need to know if they are eligible for their shots.
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We do not yet know if the blood clots have more women than men.
Federal health agencies on Tuesday recommended that practitioners discontinue the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after half a dozen women developed a rare blood clotting disorder about two weeks after vaccination. The recipients were between the ages of 18 and 48 years; one woman was killed and a second in critical condition.
On Wednesday, two more possible cases were added: one in a woman and one in a man.
But it is not clear whether the clotting was caused by the vaccines and whether women are necessarily affected more frequently.
In Europe, it was initially found that women were at greater risk for blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which has not yet been approved for use in the United States, but it appears that more women in some cases are get vaccine. countries.
British regulators now say they have no evidence to say whether men or women are more likely to be affected by blood clots.
Anyone who has severe headaches, abdominal pain, shortness of breath or leg pain after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccination should contact their healthcare provider.
Getting vaccinated can change the appearance of your mammogram.
Vaccinations against coronavirus can cause enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit that appear as white spots on mammograms. This type of swelling is a normal reaction to the vaccine and usually occurs on the same side as the arm where the shot was given, Dr. Geeta Swamy, a medical-fetal medicine specialist and a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ COVID vaccine group. It usually only takes a few weeks.
But the effect of the vaccine on mammograms could be important for radiologists, she added, because “if someone has breast cancer, we can also see enlarged lymph nodes.”
Because this type of swelling may be wrong as a sign of cancer, the Society of Breast Imaging recommends planning your regular mammogram before your first dose of COVID-19 or at least one month after your second dose.
“I am particularly keen to convey the message to all the patients who are under supervision after successful prior treatment of cancer,” said Dr. Constance D. Lehman, who wrote about the problem and is the head of bust at Massachusetts General Hospital, said. The New York Times in March. “I can not imagine the anxiety of scanning and hearing.” We found a large knot. We do not think it is cancer, but do not know. “Or worse, ‘We think it could be cancer.’ ‘
But say you are getting a diagnostic mammogram because of a suspicious lump or other symptoms of breast cancer, or you have been treated for breast cancer and need to do regular checkups; in those cases, “do not procrastinate,” Swamy said. You must keep your current mammogram appointment as well as your vaccination appointment and tell your radiologist the date you received the vaccine.
Fertility patients should coordinate the timing of their vaccination with their clinic.
Fertility patients scheduled for procedures such as egg retrieval, embryo transfer, or intrauterine insemination are advised to receive a COVID vaccine within three days before and three days after the procedure, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
This is because patients undergoing surgical procedures can develop vaccine-related side effects such as fever or chills that can make it difficult for doctors to know if an infection is brewing after surgery. In addition, many medical providers may not allow a patient experiencing COVID-like symptoms into their facility, even if it is likely that the symptoms are from a vaccine and their COVID-19 test is negative.
If you manage to make an appointment with the vaccine and you have to undergo a fertility procedure, you should tell your fertility doctor immediately so that you can plan surgical procedures, tests or treatment.
All the timing issues, getting vaccinated, are the right thing to do, experts say. Based on all the reassuring evidence to date, regarding fertility or pregnancy, “there are no known safety issues with the vaccine”, said Dr. Sigal Klipstein, a reproductive endocrinologist in Chicago, a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine COVID-19 Task Force.
“Women who contract COVID during pregnancy are at greater risk for worse diseases compared to women who get COVID if they are not pregnant,” she added.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement on Tuesday that pregnant and postpartum women who want to be vaccinated should be tentatively encouraged to get the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna shots, not the Johnson & Johnson vaccination.
If one of your vaccine shots is scheduled during the “two-week waiting period” – the period between ovulation and your expected period when the embryo would implant in your uterus – do not worry, even if you experience side effects from the vaccine not. .
“Fever should not interfere with implantation,” Klipstein said.
Try not to take any painkillers ahead of time in anticipation of the vaccine-related symptoms such as fever or headache, as this is likely to dampen your body’s immune response. After vaccination, it is OK to take acetaminophen, which is considered safe during pregnancy. Women who are pregnant or possibly pregnant should avoid ibuprofen, Klipstein said.
Women ask if the vaccine affects their menstrual cycle.
Some women say that they observed changes in the flow or timing of their period after being vaccinated.
But so far it is purely anecdotal.
‘The COVID vaccine is unlikely to affect menstrual cycles, and there is no plausible biological mechanism by which this could occur. However, there is little data on this topic, “said Klipstein.
Kathryn Clancy, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois, generated hundreds of responses on Twitter after saying her period was heavier than usual after her first dose of Moderna vaccine. She works closely with Katharine Lee, a postdoctoral research scholar at Washington University in St. Louis. Louis, to investigate women about short-term side effects against vaccines related to the menstrual cycle.
Their online survey was available in less than a week and drew more than 19,000 responses, Lee said Wednesday.
Periods can be affected by a multitude of factors, including stress, thyroid dysfunction, endometriosis, and fibroids. If you have any questions about your menstrual cycle, talk to your doctor.
Women seem to have more side effects after vaccination than men.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, published in February, examined the Pfizer-BioNTech and Modern vaccines and found that 79% of the side effects reported to the agency came from women. , although only 61% of the vaccines were administered to women.
It may be that women are more likely to report side effects than men, said Dr. Sabra L. Klein, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Or, she added, women may experience side effects to a greater extent. “We’m not sure what it is,” she said.
If women actually have more side effects than men, there is a biological explanation: women and girls can produce up to twice as many antibodies after receiving flu shots and vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella, and hepatitis A and B, probably due to a mixture of factors including reproductive hormones and genetic differences.
A study found that women account for almost three decades 80% of all allergic reactions to vaccines in adults.
Similarly, the CDC reported that most anaphylactic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines occurred in women.
And in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine describing the experiences of people with redness, itching and swelling that began four to 11 days after the first shot of the Moderna vaccine, ten of the 12 patients were women. However, it is not clear whether women are more prone to the problem.
If you have mild side effects like headaches or low-grade fever, this is actually a good thing, Klein said, because it means your immune system is on the rise. However, a lack of side effects does not mean that the vaccine does not work.
You can share your symptoms or concerns through the CD-V Safe app, which records symptoms and provides health examinations after vaccinations. Medically important reports sent with V-safe will be followed by a call from a representative.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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