Among hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2, eyes with CS positivity had significantly higher conjunctival redness grade

HealthDay operates under the strictest editorial standards. Our syndicated news content is completely independent of any financial interests, is based solely on industry-respected sources and the latest scientific research, and is carefully fact-checked by a team of industry experts to ensure accuracy.

Please see our Editorial and Fact-Checking Policy for more detail.

HeathDay is committed to maintaining the highest possible levels of impartial editorial standards in the content that we present on our website. All of our articles are chosen independent of any financial interests. Editors and writers make all efforts to clarify any financial ties behind the studies on which we report.

MONDAY, April 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity, conjunctival swab (CS) positivity is 12.7 percent, and 45.1 percent have at least one conjunctival manifestation, according to a research letter published online April 19 in JAMA Network Open.

Emilio Pedrotti, M.D., from the University of Verona in Italy, and colleagues examined the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2-related conjunctival manifestations and CS positivity on hospital admission (T1) and three days thereafter (T2) among a sample of 142 patients not receiving anti-inflammatory treatment. All patients received hyaluronic acid artificial tears (ATs) twice daily in the clinically worse eye: nonpreservative-free (NPF) ATs with povidone iodine were administered at one hospital and preservative-free (PF) ATs were administered at two hospitals. Conjunctival redness (CR) and other conjunctival signs and symptoms (OCSSs) were compared between T1 and T2 and between AT-treated and nontreated eyes.

The researchers found that 12.7 percent of the patients had a positive CS result and 45.1 percent had at least one clinical finding (e.g., CR). Eyes with CS positivity had significantly higher CR grade. At T2, 8.5 percent of patients had a positive CS result. Five additional patients were in the non-AT group and 14 fewer in the AT group. Among nontreated eyes, redness worsened, while among AT-treated eyes, both CR and OCSSs improved. NPF-ATs were 1.13 times more effective than PF-ATs for improving CR and were the only formulation able to reduce OCSSs and CS positivity.

"These results suggest a concordance between CR grade and CS positivity," the authors write.

This story may be outdated. We suggest some alternatives.

The content contained in this article is over two years old. As such our recommendation is that you reference the articles below for the latest updates on this topic. This article has been left on our site as a matter of historic record. Please contact us at solutions@healthday.com with any questions.

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. Click to verify.