Rates of COVID-19 infection among in vitro fertilization patients undergoing treatment at a university reproductive health center

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused an unprecedented challenge for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) patients. The incidence of COVID-19 infection among this population is a fundamental knowledge gap.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the rate of COVID-19 infection among IVF patients compared to other gynecologic surgery patients.

Materials and methods: This retrospective study evaluated the incidence of COVID-19 infection among patients undergoing IVF, female fertility-related surgeries (FRS) and other gynecologic surgeries at a single academic institution in Los Angeles, California. All patients underwent routine COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening prior to treatment.

Result: A total of 2742 patients underwent asymptomatic COVID-19 screening before a surgical procedure or IVF between March 1, 2020, and April 5, 2021. The rate of COVID-19 infection among patients who underwent preoperative testing for a non-fertility-related gynecologic procedure was 1.74% (28/1612). In comparison, the positive test results for those who underwent either FRS or IVF were 0.56% (1/180) and 0.34% (1/290), respectively, representing 6.70% (2/30) of positive tests for the whole cohort. The infertility patients had a significantly lower positivity rate compared to the other gynecologic patients during preoperative COVID-19 testing (0.43% vs 1.74%, p = 0.03).

Conclusion(s): Our study demonstrated that there was a significantly lower incidence of COVID-19 infections in infertility patients undergoing IVF or FRS compared to other gynecologic surgery patients. Future studies should evaluate the cost-effectiveness of routine screening in both the gynecology and infertility patient population, especially in the setting of different variant surges and vaccination rates.

Keywords: COVID-19; Gynecology; Infertility; Surgery.