Department of Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Laboratory of Emerging Viruses, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Biology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Arq Bras Oftalmol. 2024 Jan 22;86(5):e20230047. doi: 10.5935/0004-2749.20230047. eCollection 2024.
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Its main form of transmission is through respiratory droplets. Case reports have described the presence of this virus in biological materials such as blood, feces, urine, and tears, which generate hypotheses about other means thereby the disease is transmitted. In this report, we describe a case of SARS-CoV-2 identified on the eye surface of an asymptomatic health-care professional. The nasopharyngeal reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test, using a sample collected on the same day, and the serological test, performed 3 months later, did not reveal any evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. These results alert on the possibility of a false-positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction result for the ocular surface or the presence of the virus in the conjunctival mucosa in individuals without infection.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是由严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）引起的传染病。其主要传播方式是通过呼吸道飞沫。病例报告描述了这种病毒存在于血液、粪便、尿液和眼泪等生物材料中，这就产生了关于其他传播途径的假设。在本报告中，我们描述了一例在一名无症状医护人员的眼表面发现的 SARS-CoV-2。同一天采集的鼻咽逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）检测和 3 个月后进行的血清学检测均未显示出任何 SARS-CoV-2 感染的证据。这些结果提示，对于眼部表面，或对于无感染个体的结膜黏膜中的病毒，逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）结果可能出现假阳性，也可能存在病毒。
