Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears and conjunctival secretions of Coronavirus disease 2019 patients.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Kaya H ，Çalışkan A ，Okul M ，Sarı T ，Akbudak İH ... -  《Journal of Infection in Developing Countries》

Evaluation of coronavirus in tears and conjunctival secretions of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

This study aimed to assess the presence of novel coronavirus in tears and conjunctival secretions of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. A prospective interventional case series study was performed, and 30 confirmed novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) patients were selected at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University from 26 January 2020 to 9 February 2020. At an interval of 2 to 3 days, tear and conjunctival secretions were collected twice with disposable sampling swabs for reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Twenty-one common-type and nine severe-type NCP patients were enrolled. Two samples of tear and conjunctival secretions were obtained from the only one patient with conjunctivitis yielded positive RT-PCR results. Fifty-eight samples from other patents were all negative. We speculate that SARS-CoV-2 may be detected in the tears and conjunctival secretions in NCP patients with conjunctivitis.

Xia J ，Tong J ，Liu M ，Shen Y ，Guo D ... -  《-》

Evaluation of Conjunctival Swab PCR Results in Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Atum M ，Boz AAE ，Çakır B ，Karabay O ，Köroğlu M ，Öğütlü A ，Alagöz G ... -  《-》

Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 in the tears of patients with Coronavirus disease 2019.

Karimi S ，Arabi A ，Shahraki T ，Safi S ... -  《-》

Presence of viral RNA of SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival swab specimens of COVID-19 patients.

Kumar K ，Prakash AA ，Gangasagara SB ，Rathod SBL ，Ravi K ，Rangaiah A ，Shankar SM ，Basawarajappa SG ，Bhushan S ，Neeraja TG ，Khandenahalli S ，Swetha M ，Gupta P ，Sampritha UC ，Prasad GNS ，Jayanthi CR ... -  《-》