Ophthalmological Manifestations Of Covid-19 And Its Transmissibility Via Ocular Route

Dear Sir,\n\nCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), declared a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020, is caused by the highly transmissible Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The key to combating this disease besides prevention is rapid and early diagnoses of cases, which include identification of atypical presentations of this respiratory illness as well as possible routes of transmissibility. Recently, concerns regarding the eyes as both a portal of entry and a carrier of the virus have been raised, owing to the conjunctival signs and symptoms observed in a subset of patients with COVID-19 and the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in tears, thus presenting an additional risk potential for person-to-person transmission of this virus.\n\n### Supplementary data\n\n[postgradmedj-2020-138069supp001.pdf]\n\nThere have been several reports suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 can cause conjunctivitis, either as an early sign of infection or during hospitalisation for severe COVID-19 disease. In a meta-analysis by Loffredo et al 1, they stated that the overall rate …