Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival secretions from patients without ocular symptoms.
Infection
; 49(2): 257-265, 2021 Apr.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-774008
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To evaluate the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in conjunctival secretions from patients without ocular symptoms.METHODS:
Conjunctival swabs were prospectively collected from laboratory-confirmed Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients without ocular symptoms for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and viral culture.RESULTS:
A total of 158 conjunctival swabs were obtained from 49 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients. The median duration of illness when the first conjunctival swab was obtained was 10 days (range 2-27 days). Four conjunctival swabs from four different patients (4/49, 8.2%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-PCR. The Ct values ranged from 32.7 to 37.7 (mean 35.4). Viral cultures were negative for all four RT-PCR-positive conjunctival swabs.CONCLUSION:
Conjunctival secretions of a minority of COVID-19 patients without ocular symptoms may contain relatively low levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, but their infectiousness remains undetermined. Appropriate infection control measures should be implemented during ophthalmological assessment of COVID-19 patients to prevent potential nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Conjunctiva
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Language:
English
Journal:
Infection
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S15010-020-01524-2
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