The Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in Conjunctival Secretions of COVID-19 Patients.

Ciloglu, Emine; Dogan, Nese Cetin; Ozdemir, Emre; Kaya, Hatice; Cetinkaya, Pelin Duru

Purpose: To evaluate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival secretions of COVID-19 patients.Material and Methods: In this retrospective study, the records were examined of patients who were treated in the hospital with the diagnosis of COVID-19 between March-May 2020 and were referred to the eye clinic due to ocular symptoms. Conjunctival swabs from both confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases during hospitalization were analyzed.Results: A total of 35 patients (22 suspected, 13 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19) were referred to the eye clinic. Conjunctival swab samples from 3 patients yielded positive PCR results. These three patients were being treated in the intensive care unit, and all were suspected COVID-19 patients.Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 may be detected in patients with suspected COVID-19. Even with conjunctivitis findings, SARS-CoV-2 may not be detected in most conjunctiva swab samples of COVID-19 patients.