title: Are educators at high risk of sub-fertility? A multicenter study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A high percentage of women schoolteachers having fertility problems were observed by three independent teams.
  
  
  METHODS
  Expected percentage of educators was calculated in 4650 sub-fertile women and 2,062,891 women at reproductive age. To explore the possibility that schoolteachers' contact with childhood viral infections results in alterations of peripheral blood natural killer (NK) cells, a multiple linear regression analysis for profession, age, difficulty to conceive, number of abortions/implantation failures (predictor variables) was performed in childless educators (210) and housewives (184).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The difference between observed and expected percentage of sub-fertile schoolteachers was statistically significant (17.6% vs 6.86%, P < 0.0001). The mean percentage of PB NK cells was slightly higher in educators compared to housewives (12.48% vs 11.56%, P = 0.10), and the multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the profession (schoolteacher or not) was the only predictive variable for higher NK% values (P = 0.044).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Teachers' sub-fertility appears as an 'occupational disease'. Τhe possibility that results from their exposure to childhood viral infections has to be further explored.
authors: Immunobiology Dept "Helena Venizelou" Maternity Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors: Gerasimos
authors: G
authors: Perros
authors: Panagiotis
authors: P
authors: Tzonis
authors: Vasilis
authors: V
authors: Tsilivakos
authors: Antonios
authors: A
authors: Gerofotis
authors: Vasiliki
authors: V
authors: Dalavitsou
authors: Athina
authors: A
authors: Vassilaki
authors: Theodora
authors: T
authors: Keramitsoglou
authors: Dimitris
authors: D
authors: Papaioannou
authors: Dimitra
authors: D
authors: Moschandreou
authors: Virginia
authors: V
authors: Kontopoulou-Antonopoulou
authors: Michail
authors: M
authors: Daniilidis
authors: Marighoula
authors: M
authors: Varla-Leftherioti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*