1. Presence of viral RNA of SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival swab specimens of COVID-19 patients
- Author
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Kiran Kumar, Akshata A Prakash, Suresh Babu Gangasagara, Sujatha B L Rathod, K Ravi, Ambica Rangaiah, Sathyanarayan Muthur Shankar, Shantala Gowdara Basawarajappa, Shashi Bhushan, T G Neeraja, Srinivas Khandenahalli, M Swetha, Priyam Gupta, U C Sampritha, Guru N S Prasad, and Chakravarthy Raghunathan Jayanthi
- Subjects
conjunctival swab ,coronavirus disease-19 ,nasopharyngeal swab ,sars-cov-2 ,Ophthalmology ,RE1-994 - Abstract
Purpose: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: 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.
- Published
- 2020
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