Over half of Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology member fertility clinics included LGBT content on their websites, yet those in the Midwest and South were significantly less likely to do so. Predictive factors for having LGBT website content included location in northeastern and western regions and increasing clinic size. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether inclusion of LGBT content on clinic websites impacts use of reproductive services by the LGBT patient population.
19 symptoms or if they had been in contact with someone suspected or confirmed to be positive for the virus. Only patients determined to be at low risk for COVID-19 were allowed to enter the clinic for fertility treatment. Both patients and staff were required, upon arrival at the clinic, to wear a mask, complete a symptom-based questionnaire, record body temperature, and keep a safe social distance of more than 6 feet at all times. Any individual recording a fever over 100.4 O F and/or two or more symptoms was instructed to stay/return home for self-quarantine. Specimen collection for viral screening involved an anterior nare sampling method and storage in a FDA approved viral transport medium. Viral RNA was isolated using the MagMAXÔ Viral/Pathogen II (MVP II) Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific). Molecular testing for active SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA infection was performed using the FDA emergency use authorized TaqPathÔ RT-PCR COVID-19 test (Thermo Fisher Scientific) for every patient within 3-5 days prior to oocyte retrieval or an attempt to achieve a pregnancy, and for all staff bi-weekly. Positive cases were reported to each respective local State Health Department.RESULTS: Of the 2,074 patients tested for COVID-19 between May and July 2020 across nine fertility clinics in the US, only 3 (0.15%) were found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA infection. In all cases the patients were asymptomatic and passed the triage protocol. PCR testing of staff bi-weekly identified 6 positive cases. All but one indicated having one or two mild symptoms. There were no recorded community transmissions among either patients to staff or between staff members.CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive risk mitigation strategy that includes a combined triage protocol, safe social distancing and molecular testing for active SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA infection in both patients and staff enables early detection and isolation of infected asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals, thereby creating a safe environment for patient care and staff welfare during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Purpose To explore associations between infertility treatment and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Methods We collated multi-year as well as multi-state data from a national representative survey examining the association between self-reported infertility treatment (i.e., medication, intrauterine insemination, or assisted reproductive technology) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (i.e., high blood pressure, pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), preeclampsia, and toxemia). Data were analyzed using logistic regression. A total of 21,884 women in the United States (U.S.), from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey (2009-2015), participated in the study. Results In our analysis, 12.91% women reported a history of infertility treatment and 15.19% reported a history of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Compared with women who had never had infertility treatment, women who reported infertility treatment had 1.18 (adjusted OR, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05, 1.33) higher odds of reporting hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Neither types of infertility treatment nor proximity of treatment to pregnancy were independently associated with hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Conclusions Our results suggest that among U.S. women, the treatment of infertility may be associated with hypertension disorder of pregnancy regardless of type of treatment.
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