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Ocular tropism of coronavirus (CoVs): a comparison of the interaction between the animal-to-human transmitted coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, CoV-229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1) and the eye.
Al-Sharif, Eman; Strianese, Diego; AlMadhi, Nada H; D'Aponte, Antonella; dell'Omo, Roberto; Di Benedetto, Rita; Costagliola, Ciro.
  • Al-Sharif E; King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Strianese D; Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • AlMadhi NH; King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. strianes@unina.it.
  • D'Aponte A; Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80121, Naples, Italy. strianes@unina.it.
  • dell'Omo R; King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Di Benedetto R; King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Costagliola C; Department of Medicine and Health Sciences "V. Tiberio", University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy.
Int Ophthalmol ; 41(1): 349-362, 2021 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-743741
ABSTRACT

PURPOSE:

Several studies have reported conflicting results on ocular manifestations and transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) whose causative virus, SARS-CoV-2, belongs to the coronavirus family, the seventh recognized as a human pathogen and the third causing a severe clinical syndrome. COVID-19 primarily affects the lungs, similar to the other human coronaviruses. Comparing the relation between the animal-to-human transmitted coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-Cov-2, MERS-CoV, CoV-229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1) and the eye may contribute to determining their actual eye-tissue tropism and risk of ocular transmission.

METHODS:

Literature review was conducted via Pubmed.gov, Google Scholar and medRixv using the following keywords COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, CoV-229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1, conjunctivitis, tear swab, ocular expression, ocular symptoms and human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 expression. Studies with lack in methodology were excluded.

RESULTS:

Sixteen observational studies were selected. The range for detection of viral RNA in tears was 0-8% for SARS-CoV-1 and 0-5.3% for SARS-CoV-2, while no reports were found for other coronaviruses. Ocular manifestations have been reported for NL63 and SARS-CoV-2. Ocular symptoms in the form of conjunctivitis/conjunctival congestion predominantly were detected in 65 (3.17%) out of 2048 reported patients with COVID-19 (range of 0.8-32%). Eye symptoms were not reported for the other coronaviruses.

CONCLUSIONS:

Data aggregation for coronaviruses shows a relatively low eye-tissue tropism. Conjunctival congestion is an uncommon manifestation of COVID-19 similar to all human coronaviruses' infections. In a low percentage of patients, the virus can be excreted in ocular fluids at different stages of the infection, regardless of positive SARS-Cov-2 throat swab. Albeit high viral loads in ocular tissue seem to have relatively low prevalence, the eye should be regarded as a potential source of infection dissemination for COVID-19.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Eye Infections, Viral / Disease Transmission, Infectious / Pandemics / SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study / Reviews Limits: Animals / Humans Language: English Journal: Int Ophthalmol Year: 2021 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Eye Infections, Viral / Disease Transmission, Infectious / Pandemics / SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study / Reviews Limits: Animals / Humans Language: English Journal: Int Ophthalmol Year: 2021 Document Type: Article