A paper on the topic of Covid-19 and the eyes was published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology in June. Researchers in Turkey examined 93 hospitalized patients with Covid-19, 20 of whom (21.5%) presented at least one of the following ocular (eye) symptoms:
- Hyperemia (red eye): 20 (21.5% of patients)
- Epiphora (excessive tear flow): 9 (9.7% of patients)
- Increased secretion (of green or yellow eye fluid): 6 (6.5% of patients)
- Chemosis (swelling of conjunctiva): 3 (3.2% of patients)
- Follicular conjunctivitis (more severe chemosis): 8 (8.6% of patients)
- Episcleritis (inflammation of eye sclera): 2 (2.2% of patients)
- Photophobia (intolerance to light): 15 (16.1% of patients)
- Itchiness: 13 (15.7% of patients)
- Burning sensation: 7 (8.4% of patients)
- Gritty feeling (eye irritation that feels like sand): 5 (6.0% of patients)
- Blurred vision: 4 (4.8% of patients)
The paper’s authors noted that risk factors for Covid-19 ocular problems were old age, high fever, and elevated biomarkers of systemic inflammation (i.e., neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, C-reactive protein, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate).
