COVID-19 Conjunctivitis

By Kelly Young NEJM Journal Watch

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Lorenzo Di Francesco, MD, FACP, FHM

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can invade the conjunctiva, meaning the virus could potentially spread through the eyes, according to a preliminary study in JAMA Ophthalmology. Of 38 patients in China hospitalized with clinically confirmed COVID-19, roughly a third had conjunctivitis. Some 17% of those with ocular abnormalities tested positive for the virus in both conjunctival and nasopharyngeal swabs.

JAMA Ophthalmology article (Free)