September 26, 2023 – Women without menstruation were more more likely to experience unexpected vaginal bleeding after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, in response to a recent study.
Researchers suspected that it could possibly be related to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein within the vaccines. The study was published in Scientific advances.
After vaccinations became widely available, many ladies reported heavier menstrual bleeding than normal. Researchers on the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo examined the information, particularly amongst women who should not have periods, resembling those going through menopause or those taking contraceptives.
The researchers used an ongoing population health survey called the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study, Nature reported. They examined greater than 21,000 responses from postmenopausal, perimenopausal, and non-menstruating premenopausal women. Some were taking long-term hormonal contraceptives.
They found that 252 postmenopausal women, 1,008 perimenopause women, and 924 premenopausal women reported unexpected vaginal bleeding.
About half reported that bleeding occurred inside 4 weeks of the primary or second shot, or each. The risk of bleeding was three to 5 times higher in women before and through menopause and two to 3 times higher in women after menopause, the researchers found.
Postmenopausal bleeding is often severe and is usually a sign of cancer, Nature wrote. “Knowing a patient's vaccination status can help you estimate the frequency of her bleeding,” said Kate Clancy, a biological anthropologist on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.