Ocular Involvement of SARS-CoV-2 in a Polish Cohort of COVID-19-Positive Patients

Joanna Dolar-Szczasny, Mario D. Toro, Anna Dworzańska, Tomasz Wójtowicz, Izabela Korona-Glowniak, Rafał Sawicki, Anastazja Boguszewska, Małgorzata Polz-Dacewicz, Krzysztof Tomasiewicz, Wojciech Załuska, Robert Rejdak, Paola Bagnoli and Dario Rusciano
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Joanna Dolar-Szczasny: Department of General Ophthalmology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-079 Lublin, Poland
Mario D. Toro: Department of General Ophthalmology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-079 Lublin, Poland
Anna Dworzańska: Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Tomasz Wójtowicz: Department of Ophthalmology, Specialist Hospital of Radom, 26-610 Radom, Poland
Izabela Korona-Glowniak: Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Rafał Sawicki: Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Anastazja Boguszewska: Department of Virology with SARS Laboratory, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Małgorzata Polz-Dacewicz: Department of Virology with SARS Laboratory, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Krzysztof Tomasiewicz: Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Wojciech Załuska: Department of Nephrology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Robert Rejdak: Department of General Ophthalmology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-079 Lublin, Poland
Paola Bagnoli: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Dario Rusciano: Sooft Italia SpA, Research Center, 95123 Catania, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for the current human COVID-19 pandemic has shown tropism toward different organs with variable efficiency, eyes included. The purpose of this study has been to investigate the presence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 infection in ocular swabs in patients affected by COVID-19. A consecutive series of 74 COVID-19-positive patients (age 21–89) were enrolled at two Polish COVID-19 hospitals for 4 months and were characterized by PCR for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in nasopharyngeal (NP) and ocular swabs, while their respiratory and ocular symptoms were noted. Almost 50% of them presented with severe/critical respiratory involvement, and some degree of eye disease. No tight correlation was observed between the presence of ocular and respiratory symptoms. Three male patients presenting with severe/critical lung disease tested positive in ocular swab, however with mild/moderate ocular symptoms. In conclusion, our study lends further support to the view that overt ocular infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not such a frequent occurrence.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; eye; lung; PCR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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