Blink of an Eye: A Case Report and Literature Review
Asian Journal of Case Reports in Medicine and Health,
Page 15-18
Abstract
We report here the case of a 36-year-old male emergency physician contracting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) while performing endotracheal intubation on a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patient with conjunctivitis as the sole symptom. On the day of exposure, a conjunctival swab was collected from both eyes which turned out to be negative. But, a nasopharyngeal swab sampled on the third day of exposure gave a positive result with cycle threshold (CT) value of 16. The physician was already vaccinated with two doses of ChAdox1 nCoV-19 vaccine, with a second dose taken 81 days prior to exposure. This case report demonstrates that conjunctivitis can be the sole manifestation of COVID-19 infection. It further reiterates the importance of Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs), goggles, and face shields at the time of intubation and more specifically to all vaccinated emergency physicians, intensive care specialists, and ophthalmologists to be more cautious if a patient is presented with a sole symptom of conjunctivitis.
Keywords:
- COVID-19
- intubation
- conjunctivitis
- India
How to Cite
References
Available:https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/56d2642cb379485ebf78371e744b8c6a
Accessed on Feb 28, 2022.
National Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control in Healthcare Facilities. National Centre for Disease Control, Directorate General of Health Services. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. January 2020. Available:https://ncdc.gov.in/showfile.php?lid=431
Accessed on Feb 20, 2022.
Bal S, Chodosh J, Venkateswaran N. Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on Ocular Surface Pathology and treatment practices: A review. Curr Ophthalmol Rep. 2021;9(3): 77-82.
Chen L, Liu M, Zhang Z, Qiao K, Huang T, Chen M et al. Ocular manifestations of a hospitalised patient with confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus disease. Br J Ophthalmol. 2020;104(6):748-751.
Chang D, Xu H, Rebaza A, Sharma L, Dela Cruz CS. Protecting health-care workers from subclinical coronavirus infection. Lancet Respir Med. 2020;8(3): e13.
Belser JA, Rota PA, Tumpey TM. Ocular tropism of respiratory viruses. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2013;77(1):144-156.
Ozturker ZK. Conjunctivitis as sole symptom of COVID-19: A case report and review of the literature. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2021;31(2):NP161-NP166.
Zhou Y, Zeng Y, Tong Y, Chen CZ. Ophthalmologic evidence against the interpersonal transmission of 2019 novel coronavirus through conjunctiva. med Rxiv; 2020. (Preprint)
Scalinci SZ, Trovato Battagliola E. Conjunctivitis can be the only presenting sign and symptom of COVID-19. ID Cases. 2020;20:e00774.
Mohammad AH, Al Zubi K, Abdulmannan DM, Al Habahbeh O, Abu-Ismail L. Conjunctivitis as the only sign and symptom of COVID-19: A case report and review of literature. Qatar Med J. 2021; 2:31.
Eid MM, Al Khalaf BN. Conjunctivitis as initial presenting symptom in a COVID-19 patient. Vis J Emerg Med. 2021;23: 100997.
-
Abstract View: 174 times
PDF Download: 16 times
