Are educators at high risk of sub-fertility? A multicenter study.
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.
Perros
Gerasimos
G
Immunobiology Dept "Helena Venizelou" Maternity Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Tzonis
Panagiotis
P
Tsilivakos
Vasilis
V
Gerofotis
Antonios
A
Dalavitsou
Vasiliki
V
Vassilaki
Athina
A
Keramitsoglou
Theodora
T
Papaioannou
Dimitris
D
Moschandreou
Dimitra
D
Kontopoulou-Antonopoulou
Virginia
V
Daniilidis
Michail
M
Varla-Leftherioti
Marighoula
M
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*