Ocular manifestations and viral shedding in tears of pediatric patients with coronavirus disease 2019: a preliminary report.
J AAPOS
; 24(4): 212-215, 2020 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-591750
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To evaluate ocular manifestations and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) prevalence in the tears of children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).METHODS:
A total of 27 pediatric patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection hospitalized from March 16 to April 15, 2020, at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital were enrolled in the study. At admission, all patients showed ocular manifestations. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction from nasopharyngeal and conjunctival swabs were performed every 2-3 days before discharge.RESULTS:
Of the 27 patients, 4 (15%) were asymptomatic, 15 (56%) showed respiratory symptoms, and 8 (30%) had gastrointestinal symptoms. At admission, nasopharyngeal swabs were positive for COVID-19 in all patients; on the second swabs, 7 children (26%) tested negative, and 20 remained positive for COVID-19. Ocular manifestations consistent with mild viral conjunctivitis were observed in 4 patients (15%). At first conjunctival swab, 3 patients (11%), 1 symptomatic and 2 asymptomatic for ocular infection, had positive findings for COVID-19; 2 became negative on the second test and 1 on the third.CONCLUSIONS:
In our study cohort, ocular manifestations of COVID-19 seem to have had a milder clinical course in pediatric patients than in adults. Despite the low prevalence and rapid regression of viral presence in the conjunctiva, SARS-CoV-2 transmission through tears may be possible, even in patients without apparent ocular involvement.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tears
/
Eye Infections, Viral
/
Virus Shedding
/
Pandemics
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Infant, Newborn
Language:
English
Journal:
J AAPOS
Journal subject:
Ophthalmology
/
Pediatrics
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS