COVID-19 and the Human Eye: Conjunctivitis, a Lone COVID-19 Finding – A Case-Control Study

• Published in: Medical principles and practice Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 66 - 73
• Main Authors: Mocanu, Valeria, Bhagwani, Dharmesh, Sharma, Abhinav, Borza, Claudia, Rosca, Ciprian Ilie, Stelian, Morariu, Bhagwani, Shalini, Haidar, Laura, Kshtriya, Lajwanti, Kundnani, Nilima Rajpal, Horhat, Florin-Raul, Horhat, Raluca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland S. Karger AG 01.03.2022
• Subjects: Adult; Asymptomatic; Case-Control Studies; Conjunctivitis - epidemiology; Conjunctivitis - etiology; COVID-19; COVID-19 - complications; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing; Eye - virology; Female; Foreign bodies; Hospitalization; Humans; Infections; Male; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Patients; Pneumonia; Prevalence; Quarantine; Regression analysis; Retrospective Studies; RNA, Viral - analysis; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Statistical analysis; Visual acuity; Young Adult; India; Corona virus disease-2019; Prevalence; Conjunctivitis
• ISSN: 1011-7571; 1423-0151; 1423-0151
• DOI: 10.1159/000521808

Objectives: COVID-19 has varied clinical manifestations, from asymptomatic to severe cases, and conjunctivitis is one of them, but sometimes a lone initial symptom is found to be present. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of conjunctivitis as the first symptom in COVID-19 patients in a primary healthcare unit. Methodology: A retrospective study was conducted, analyzing the presenting complains/symptoms and results of COVID-19-confirmatory tests. Results: Out of the 672 cases that were sent for RT-PCR testing, only 121 (18%) were found to be positive. Among these, 2.67% patients had both conjunctivitis and COVID-19, 77.77% patients had unilateral eye affected, while 22.22% had bilateral conjunctivitis of varying degrees. Fifteen patients diagnosed to have both acute conjunctivitis and COVID-19 presented other symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection. Three patients had only acute conjunctivitis during their entire course of COVID-19. Conclusions: Conjunctivitis is a symptom of COVID-19 and may be the first sign of the infection, until the onset of the classical manifestations; such patients may continue to be a viral reservoir. Physicians should not miss unilateral conjunctivitis as it can be the only presenting complaint of COVID-19 during the initial phase, which might worsen if undetected and can aid in the spread of the contagion.