Study: Researchers found coronavirus in a patient’s eyes — days after it left her nose

By R

| 25 avril 2020

3 Partages

Traces of the coronavirus can linger in a patient’s eyes days after it is no longer detected in the nose, a scientific study published.

According to the Washington Post, Italy’s first coronavirus patient travelled from Wuhan, China, to Italy in late January and was admitted to the hospital with coronavirus symptoms days later. A recently published report shows that she had detectable traces of the virus in her eyes days after it had cleared from her nose.

The report demonstrates that the novel coronavirus can exist in an infected person’s eye fluids at probable contagious levels, increasing the need for people to be cognizant about their hand hygiene and to keep their hands away from their face, experts say.

The 65-year-old woman, who is not named in the report, arrived in Italy on Jan. 23 after leaving the first hot spot of the virus. By Jan. 29, she was admitted to an isolation unit at an Italian hospital with a dry cough, sore throat, stuffy nose and conjunctivitis, an infection of the lining of the eye commonly known as pinkeye, in both eyes. She tested positive for the virus.

Doctors collected eye swabs from the woman on her third day of admission because of her persistent conjunctivitis, and researchers found she had detectable infectious particles in her eyes.

Her pink eye cleared up by her 20th day in the hospital, but traces of genetic material from the coronavirus dallied.

The woman’s eye samples tested positive for traces of the virus for up to her 21st day under care, according to the report. For about five days, it wasn’t detected, until it showed up again on Day 27 — days after it was undetectable in her nasal swabs.

Researchers performed additional tests and found that the virus in her eyes had been replicating, meaning that her eyes could be contagious.

The findings indicate that eye secretions of patients with COVID-19 could be contagious, along with the importance of practicing good personal hygiene, according to infectious disease experts

3 Partages

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Study: Researchers found coronavirus in a patient’s eyes — days after it left her nose

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