The symptoms of the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus infection are numerous: in addition to a fever above 37.5 ° C, a dry or oily cough, rhinorrhea (runny nose), body aches (myalgia), we can sometimes also observe respiratory signs (chest pain, shortness of breath …) or a loss of taste and / or smell (ageusia / anosmia). But researchers at the Adolphe Rotschild Foundation Hospital found that covid-19 also caused various patients eye disorders: gene to light, conjunctivitis, and even retinopathy.
To find out more, they followed 129 patients with a severe form of Covid-19 and had them undergo an MRI. In 9 patients, examinations were found to be abnormal. “One or more nodules were reported to the front or back of the eye, at the level of the macule. In total, 8 of these 9 patients were admitted to intensive care “, details Prof. Augustin Leclerc, neurologist and main author of the study published in the journal Radiology. The latter also contemplates uThere is no correlation between visual disturbances and comorbidities because among the 9 patients, 2 were diabetic, 6 suffered from obesity and 2 from arterial hypertension.
Researchers will continue to follow these and other patients with severe Covid by having them undergo MRI scans and comprehensive eye tests. Objective: to determine if the eye abnormalities are temporary Where persist in time.
The virus found in eye fluids
Since the start of the pandemic, many other researchers have already observed eye problems in their patients with covid-19. Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (in England) asked 83 people with Covid-19 to complete a questionnaire about their symptoms. Results ? 81% of patients mentioned eye disorders, including 16% eye pain, 18% photophobia (i.e. gene in the light) and 17% itchy eye and the eyelid.
As early as last spring, a study of 30 Chinese patients hospitalized for COVID-19 published in the Journal of medical virology, showed that one of the patients with conjunctivitis had traces of the virus in the tear fluid and conjunctival fluid. “This suggests that the coronavirus can infect the conjunctiva and cause conjunctivitis, and that viral particles are present in the ocular secretions” underlined the AAO which concluded that the coronavirus could also be transmitted by aerosol contact with the conjunctiva.
Allergic conjunctivitis or covid-19?
With the onset of spring and the return of pollens, the symptoms may look similar. But they are not quite the same:
- Allergic conjunctivitis : the eyes are red and itchy.
- Covid-19 : the person’s eyes are red they do not itch, the eye is rather sore.
Sources:
- Ocular MRI Findings in Patients with Severe COVID-19: A Retrospective Multicenter Observational Study, Radiology, February 16, 2021
- Evaluation of coronavirus in tears and conjunctival secretions of patients with SARS ‐ CoV ‐ 2 infection, Journal of medical virology, February 26, 2020
- BMJ Open Ophthalmology
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