Conjunctival swabs

 Among 91 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Italy who had conjunctival swab specimens taken for PCR testing, 57% had positive test results. Overall, conjunctival swabs were positive from one eye but not the other in 23% of patients. In a subset of 41 patients who had nasopharyngeal and conjunctival swab specimens taken within 2 days of each other, 10 had negative nasopharyngeal PCR results but positive conjunctival results. In JAMA Ophthalmology, researchers suggest that “use of the slightly invasive conjunctival swab may be considered as a supplementary diagnostic test.” They add that the findings “support the use of eye protection for people working in environments where infection through the ocular route is feasible.”

JAMA Ophthalmology article on conjunctival swabs