Investigation of Coronavirus disease 2019 virus in vaginal fluid and menses blood and the effect on menstrual cycle duration and sexual desire: A cross-sectional study.

Sadeghi L, Laya Farzadi
International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2023 · doi:10.18502/ijrm.v21i8.14019 · PMID:37885972 · PMC10598467
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This cross-sectional study found no COVID-19 in vaginal fluid or menses blood but detected reduced sexual desire and shorter menstrual cycles in women with severe COVID-19 infection.

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This cross-sectional study evaluated 300 women with confirmed COVID-19 to detect the virus in vaginal fluid and menstrual blood, while also assessing changes in menstrual cycle duration and sexual desire. RT-PCR analysis yielded negative results for SARS-CoV-2 in both vaginal secretions and menses, indicating no direct viral presence in these samples. However, participants with severe infection experienced significantly shortened menstrual cycles and a notable decline in libido compared to their pre-infection baselines. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was detected in the throat, urine, and feces but has little evidence documented of sexual transmission.ObjectiveHere, we aimed to diagnose the presence of COVID-19 in vaginal fluids and menses blood. Menstrual cycle duration and sexual desire were the other aims.Materials and methodsIn this cross-sectional study, 300 individuals with clinical approval of COVID-19 infection who were referred to the Alzahra hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran were divided into mild (n = 178, partial pressure of oxygen ≥ 91) and severe (n = 122, partial pressure of oxygen ≤ 91) groups, also based on clinical signs and hospitalization, from January to May 2021. Demographic characteristics, menstruation, and sexual desire of individuals were recorded in the questionnaire blood sampling was done on days 2-4 for menses, and vaginal fluid after menses for polymerase chain reaction by using a Dacron tip swab.ResultsParticipants were studied in the mild (mean age: 43.32 ± 7.41) and severe (mean age: 47.15 ± 6.9) groups. COVID-19 infection resulted in shortening the menstrual cycle duration in the severe group (30.15 ± 2.9 vs. 25.12 ± 2.1 days, p = 0.01). Polymerase chain reaction test for vaginal fluid and menses blood was negative for all cases. Sexual desire declined in both groups, significantly.ConclusionThis virus was not present in the menses blood and vaginal fluid of women with COVID-19 infection, which proposed a low risk of virus transmission via vaginal tracts. Severe COVID-19 infection may affect the menstrual duration.
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This research confirms that the COVID-19 virus was not present in the menstrual blood and vaginal fluid of women with COVID-19 infection, which proposes a low risk of virus transmission via vaginal tracts. Furthermore, results confirm the menstrual duration change after severe COVID-19 infection, which shows that infection effects the ovaries. Moreover, COVID-19 infection significantly declines sexual intercourse and desire in both mild and severe COVID-19 infection groups. However, more investigations are needed to determine the exact impacts and molecular mechanisms.

Coi Statement

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interest.

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