The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic
PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of conjunctival and pharyngeal swab sample positivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in asymptomatic preterm and term infants. We aimed to detect asymptomatic carrier potential in infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pat...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.e-tjo.org/article.asp?issn=2211-5056;year=2023;volume=13;issue=3;spage=323;epage=328;aulast=Oto |
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| author | Bilge Batu Oto Yesim Tok Oguzhan Kilicarslan Ahmet Mert Kuskucu Huseyin Yetik |
| author_facet | Bilge Batu Oto Yesim Tok Oguzhan Kilicarslan Ahmet Mert Kuskucu Huseyin Yetik |
| author_sort | Bilge Batu Oto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of conjunctival and pharyngeal swab sample positivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in asymptomatic preterm and term infants. We aimed to detect asymptomatic carrier potential in infants.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients screened for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) at our clinic between January and June 2021 were recruited for this study. For all study cases, the previous history of possible exposure or contact with SARS-CoV-2, previous history of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), or contact with any COVID-19 case was excluded. None of the patients showed signs of COVID-19 during sample collection. Pharyngeal and conjunctival swab samples were collected before the ophthalmic examination. Nucleic acid isolation from the samples was performed using an automated system. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the samples was screened using a real-time polymerase chain reaction kit, and the positive samples were re-evaluated for the variant virus.
RESULTS: Among the 127 patients with a median age of 40 weeks (range: 34–86) of postmenstrual age, positivity for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the pharyngeal and conjunctival samples was 5/127 (3.93%) and 3/127 (2.36%), respectively. Isolated conjunctival positivity was not observed in any of the patients, and all three patients were positive for both conjunctiva and pharynx.
CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic infants may be a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2, and conjunctival infection in infants may be a source of virus transmission. Since ROP screening cannot be postponed during the pandemic, caution should be exercised to prevent the spread of the disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:45:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-651aae27c382415abd9e8f7070293432 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2211-5056 2211-5072 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:45:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology |
| spelling | doaj.art-651aae27c382415abd9e8f70702934322023-10-30T12:02:47ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsTaiwan Journal of Ophthalmology2211-50562211-50722023-01-0113332332810.4103/tjo.TJO-D-23-00052The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemicBilge Batu OtoYesim TokOguzhan KilicarslanAhmet Mert KuskucuHuseyin YetikPURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of conjunctival and pharyngeal swab sample positivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in asymptomatic preterm and term infants. We aimed to detect asymptomatic carrier potential in infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients screened for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) at our clinic between January and June 2021 were recruited for this study. For all study cases, the previous history of possible exposure or contact with SARS-CoV-2, previous history of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), or contact with any COVID-19 case was excluded. None of the patients showed signs of COVID-19 during sample collection. Pharyngeal and conjunctival swab samples were collected before the ophthalmic examination. Nucleic acid isolation from the samples was performed using an automated system. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the samples was screened using a real-time polymerase chain reaction kit, and the positive samples were re-evaluated for the variant virus. RESULTS: Among the 127 patients with a median age of 40 weeks (range: 34–86) of postmenstrual age, positivity for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the pharyngeal and conjunctival samples was 5/127 (3.93%) and 3/127 (2.36%), respectively. Isolated conjunctival positivity was not observed in any of the patients, and all three patients were positive for both conjunctiva and pharynx. CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic infants may be a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2, and conjunctival infection in infants may be a source of virus transmission. Since ROP screening cannot be postponed during the pandemic, caution should be exercised to prevent the spread of the disease.http://www.e-tjo.org/article.asp?issn=2211-5056;year=2023;volume=13;issue=3;spage=323;epage=328;aulast=Otocoronavirus disease-19ocular reservoirpandemicretinopathy of prematurity screening |
| spellingShingle | Bilge Batu Oto Yesim Tok Oguzhan Kilicarslan Ahmet Mert Kuskucu Huseyin Yetik The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology coronavirus disease-19 ocular reservoir pandemic retinopathy of prematurity screening |
| title | The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic |
| title_full | The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic |
| title_fullStr | The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic |
| title_short | The asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease-19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic |
| title_sort | asymptomatic ocular surface reservoir of coronavirus disease 19 in infants and retinopathy of prematurity screening during the pandemic |
| topic | coronavirus disease-19 ocular reservoir pandemic retinopathy of prematurity screening |
| url | http://www.e-tjo.org/article.asp?issn=2211-5056;year=2023;volume=13;issue=3;spage=323;epage=328;aulast=Oto |
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