Department of Ophthalmology, Minto Ophthalmic Hospital, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Department of Medicine, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2020 Jun;68(6):1015-1017. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1287_20.
To detect the presence of viral RNA of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in conjunctival swab specimens of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) patients.
Forty-five COVID-19 patients positive for real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab with or without ocular manifestations were included in the study. The conjunctival swab of each patient was collected by an ophthalmologist posted for COVID duty.
Out of 45 patients, 35 (77.77%) were males and the rest were females. The mean age was 31.26 ± 12.81 years. None of the patients had any ocular manifestations. One (2.23%) out of 45 patients was positive for RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 in the conjunctival swab.
This study shows that SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in conjunctival swabs of confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients. Though the positivity rate of detecting SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival swabs is very less, care should be exercised during the ocular examination of patients of COVID-19.
检测新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID-19)患者结膜拭子标本中严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2(SARS-CoV-2)的病毒 RNA 存在情况。
本研究纳入了 45 例经实时逆转录聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)检测鼻咽拭子 SARS-CoV-2 阳性的 COVID-19 患者,这些患者有或没有眼部表现。由专门负责 COVID-19 的眼科医生采集每位患者的结膜拭子。
45 例患者中,35 例(77.77%)为男性,其余为女性。平均年龄为 31.26±12.81 岁。所有患者均无眼部表现。45 例患者中,有 1 例(2.23%)结膜拭子 RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 阳性。
本研究表明,SARS-CoV-2 可在 COVID-19 确诊患者的结膜拭子中检测到。虽然结膜拭子中检测到 SARS-CoV-2 的阳性率非常低,但在 COVID-19 患者的眼部检查中应谨慎操作。