Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients
Introduction: Current studies suggest that tears and conjunctival secretions may be an important transmission route in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study aims to evaluate the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in tears and conjunctival secreti...
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The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
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| Online Access: | https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/13224 |
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| author | Hüseyin Kaya Ahmet Çalışkan Mehmet Okul Tuğba Sarı İsmail Hakkı Akbudak |
| author_facet | Hüseyin Kaya Ahmet Çalışkan Mehmet Okul Tuğba Sarı İsmail Hakkı Akbudak |
| author_sort | Hüseyin Kaya |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Introduction: Current studies suggest that tears and conjunctival secretions may be an important transmission route in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study aims to evaluate the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in tears and conjunctival secretion of patients with COVID-19.
Methodology: A prospective interventional case series study was performed, and 32 patients with COVID-19 were selected at the Pamukkale University Hospital from 15 to 22 May 2020. The tear and conjunctival samples were collected by a conjunctival swab. Each specimen was sent to the laboratory for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses. To avoid cross-infection, gloves and personal protective equipment were changed after collecting each sample.
Results: 32 patients (18 male, 14 female) with Covid-19 were included in this cross-sectional study. The average age of the patients was 52.81 ± 16.76 years. By the time of the first collection of conjunctival-tear samples, the mean time of the onset of complaints was 6.84 ± 6.81 (1-35) days. Tear-conjunctival samples from 5 patients (16%) without conjunctivitis yielded positive PCR results, 3 of whom had positive and 2 negative nasopharyngeal PCR results.
Conclusions: Five of 32 patients (16 %) without conjunctivitis or any eye symptoms had viral RNA in their tear-conjunctival samples. The possibility of transmission via tears and conjunctival secretions should be recognized even in the absence of conjunctivitis or other ocular manifestations.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5eb4b80e3dff48a68f5790d233626dc5 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1972-2680 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Infection in Developing Countries |
| spelling | doaj-art-5eb4b80e3dff48a68f5790d233626dc52025-08-20T02:27:14ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802020-09-01140910.3855/jidc.13224Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patientsHüseyin Kaya0Ahmet Çalışkan1Mehmet Okul2Tuğba Sarı3İsmail Hakkı Akbudak4Ophthalmology Department, Pamukkale University, Denizli, TurkeyDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Pamukkale University, Denizli, TurkeyDepartment of Medical Microbiology, Pamukkale University, Denizli, TurkeyDepartment of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Pamukkale University, Denizli, TurkeyDepartment of Internal Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey Introduction: Current studies suggest that tears and conjunctival secretions may be an important transmission route in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study aims to evaluate the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in tears and conjunctival secretion of patients with COVID-19. Methodology: A prospective interventional case series study was performed, and 32 patients with COVID-19 were selected at the Pamukkale University Hospital from 15 to 22 May 2020. The tear and conjunctival samples were collected by a conjunctival swab. Each specimen was sent to the laboratory for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses. To avoid cross-infection, gloves and personal protective equipment were changed after collecting each sample. Results: 32 patients (18 male, 14 female) with Covid-19 were included in this cross-sectional study. The average age of the patients was 52.81 ± 16.76 years. By the time of the first collection of conjunctival-tear samples, the mean time of the onset of complaints was 6.84 ± 6.81 (1-35) days. Tear-conjunctival samples from 5 patients (16%) without conjunctivitis yielded positive PCR results, 3 of whom had positive and 2 negative nasopharyngeal PCR results. Conclusions: Five of 32 patients (16 %) without conjunctivitis or any eye symptoms had viral RNA in their tear-conjunctival samples. The possibility of transmission via tears and conjunctival secretions should be recognized even in the absence of conjunctivitis or other ocular manifestations. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/13224COVID-19SARS-CoV-2tearsconjunctiva |
| spellingShingle | Hüseyin Kaya Ahmet Çalışkan Mehmet Okul Tuğba Sarı İsmail Hakkı Akbudak Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients Journal of Infection in Developing Countries COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 tears conjunctiva |
| title | Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients |
| title_full | Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients |
| title_fullStr | Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients |
| title_short | Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients |
| title_sort | detection of sars cov 2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of coronavirus disease 2019 patients |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 tears conjunctiva |
| url | https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/13224 |
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