&lt;p&gt;Assessment of Coronavirus in the Conjunctival Tears and Secretions in Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Sohag Province, Egypt&lt;/p&gt;

Objective To investigate the incidence of COVID-19 viral RNA in the conjunctiva of patients priorly confirmed to have COVID-19, using a conjunctival swab and to determine swab sensitivity. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled patients who tested positive for COVID-19 with PCR via nasopharyngeal swabs. Conjunctival swabs were collected for each patient and subjected to RT-PCR assay. Demographic data and clinical history of patients were investigated and analysed. Results In this study, 4.9% of the patients tested positive with conjunctival swabs for COVID-19; 29.9%, 28.7%, 20.1%, and 12.2% of the patients had fever, shortness of breath, cough, and red eye, respectively. Among all patients, 18.9% and 73.2% had a history of traveling and contact with positive COVID-19 cases, respectively. There were significant correlations between the conjunctival results and diabetes (P=0.049) and hypertension (P=0.002). Traveling was a risk factor for positive conjunctival swab testing (P=0.016). The sensitivity of the conjunctival swab was 4.8%. Conclusion Among all positive cases of COVID-19, a small percentage had positive results when tested using a conjunctival swab. Conjunctival swabs have very low sensitivity for the detection of COVID-19. However, tears could still be a mode of disease transmission, especially from patients to eye care specialists.

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“…The study reported that COVID-19 was found in the secretions of 28.57% of the patients, whereas the majority showed negative results. 16 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the Sensitivity of Conjunctival Swabs from Confirmed COVID-19 Patients

Hadrawi¹,

Malak²,

Almahmoudi³

et al. 2021

OPTH

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“…Afterwards, conjunctival swabs were collected within three days from the onset of respiratory symptoms to ensure the presence of higher viral load levels to be detected by (RT-PCR) [ 25 , 26 ]. Conjunctival swabs were taken from the inferior conjunctival sac through eversion of the lower eyelids by sterile cotton tips to explore the lower fornixes of the eye [ 27 ] without topical anesthesia. Tips of the sterile sticks were placed into liquid Virocult ® medium.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocular Involvement of SARS-CoV-2 in a Polish Cohort of COVID-19-Positive Patients

Dolar-Szczasny

Toro

Dworzańska

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for the current human COVID-19 pandemic has shown tropism toward different organs with variable efficiency, eyes included. The purpose of this study has been to investigate the presence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 infection in ocular swabs in patients affected by COVID-19. A consecutive series of 74 COVID-19-positive patients (age 21–89) were enrolled at two Polish COVID-19 hospitals for 4 months and were characterized by PCR for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in nasopharyngeal (NP) and ocular swabs, while their respiratory and ocular symptoms were noted. Almost 50% of them presented with severe/critical respiratory involvement, and some degree of eye disease. No tight correlation was observed between the presence of ocular and respiratory symptoms. Three male patients presenting with severe/critical lung disease tested positive in ocular swab, however with mild/moderate ocular symptoms. In conclusion, our study lends further support to the view that overt ocular infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not such a frequent occurrence.

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“…[2][3][4][5] Many studies have evaluated SARS-CoV-2 shedding in conjunctival tears and secretions. 6,7 The presence of viral RNA was confirmed by many studies suggesting its transmission through the eyes. This could explain deaths amongst ophthalmologists and support the importance of safety measures when dealing with symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Evaluation of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA in the Conjunctival Secretions of COVID-19 Patients

Mahmoud¹,

Hamody²,

Hefny³

et al. 2021

OPTH

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Purpose: To assess the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA in the conjunctival secretions of confirmed COVID-19 patients by nasopharyngeal swabs and correlate its presence with the severity of the disease, patient's age, sex and ocular symptoms. Methods: This study included 44 positive COVID-19 patients confirmed with nasopharyngeal swabs during the period 17-28 February 2021 at Sohag Tropical Medicine Hospital. Tears and conjunctival secretions were examined for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA. Results: While non-reactive results are strongly correlated to low titre and vice versa, severity showed significant correlation with neither IgA reactivity nor titre. Meanwhile, IgA reactivity did not show significant correlation with either age or sex. The reactivity and IgA titre are correlated with ocular symptoms. Conclusion:The anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA could be found in ocular secretions in SARS-CoV -2 patients. There is no correlation with age or sex or severity of the disease; however, they are correlated with ocular symptoms.

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<p>Assessment of Coronavirus in the Conjunctival Tears and Secretions in Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Sohag Province, Egypt</p>

Cited by 29 publications

References 28 publications

Testing the Sensitivity of Conjunctival Swabs from Confirmed COVID-19 Patients

Testing the Sensitivity of Conjunctival Swabs from Confirmed COVID-19 Patients

Ocular Involvement of SARS-CoV-2 in a Polish Cohort of COVID-19-Positive Patients

Evaluation of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA in the Conjunctival Secretions of COVID-19 Patients

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