COVID-19: An Ophthalmologist’s Perspective

Abstract

In just one hundred years, the world has been through five pandemics. Lessons of the past have not prevented a new virus from being responsible for a fifth wave of deaths worldwide, even with scientific advances and the rapid response of societies that, for the most part, anticipated the political and economic response. A century after the end of the Spanish Flu (1918/19), in December 2019, the world has watched the beginning of the second pandemic of the 21st century, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by a new severe acute respiratory coronavirus syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2).The eye can not only be the entry point for coronaviruses, but also a target organ. Conjunctivitis, uveitis, vasculitis, retinitis and optic neuritis have all been documented in animal models studies.In this article, we review the possible roles of the visual system/ocular tissues as an entryway, and the potential ophthalmic manifestations of human SARS-CoV-2 infections. This review article will also highlight the most effective ways for protecting and preventing the spread of the virus.

Acute corneal allograft rejection following SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination–A systematic review

“…Another important limitation is that the number of publications on acute rejection after SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination exceeds by far the number of reports of keratoplasty patients developing corneal allograft rejection after other vaccines; while this is possibly due to increased awareness of the potential of immunization‐induced immune reactions on corneal grafts, it is also possible that the novelty of the viral agent and the novelty of the mRNA vaccines raised a potential publication bias. We emphasize our belief that the benefits of SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination far outweigh the potential risks of acute corneal allograft rejection following vaccination, considering the potentially severe complications of COVID‐19 disease, and considering the potential ocular manifestations of COVID‐19 (Cunha et al, 2020 ), which may also include acute corneal graft rejection (Ang et al, 2020 ; Behera et al, 2021 ; Jin & Juthani, 2020 ; Singh & Mathur, 2021 ). Most corneal surgeons agree with this policy, according to a recent survey of 142 corneal surgeons (Lockington et al, 2021 ).…”

“…SARS‐CoV‐2 has the potential to affect many tissues and systems, including ocular tissues and adnexa. (Cunha et al, 2020 ; Lin et al, 2021 ) The watchful control of adverse events (AEs) of the novel vaccines also led to the detection of rare ocular AEs after SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination affecting any ocular structure and the optic nerve. (Y. K. Lee & Huang, 2021 ; Khan et al, 2021 ; Ng et al, 2022 ; Ng et al, 2021 ) Vaccination‐induced corneal allograft rejection episodes have been anecdotally reported after vaccines against other infectious agents (E. H. Lee & Li, 2021 ) and recently reported after COVID‐19 vaccination.…”

“…SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to affect many tissues and systems, including ocular tissues and adnexa. (Cunha et al, 2020;Lin et al, 2021) The watchful control of adverse events (AEs) of the novel vaccines also led to the detection of rare ocular AEs after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination affecting any ocular structure and the optic nerve. (…”