LONDON, Dec 10 — While a fever, a dry cough and feeling more tired than usual are well known potential symptoms of covid-19, sore eyes have not been considered a common symptom of the virus.
Now, new research from scientists in the UK suggests that this could be the most significant vision-based indicator of covid-19.
Published in the BMJ Open Ophthalmology journal, the study investigated the various symptoms experienced by patients infected with covid-19 to better understand how the virus travels through the body.
Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University analysed data from several patients with a confirmed positive diagnosis for covid-19. They were asked to complete a questionnaire about their symptoms and how those compared to before they tested positive.
The scientists found that sore eyes was significantly more common when patients were infected with Covid-19. In total, 16 per cent of the 83 respondents reported this particular eye condition as one of their symptoms.
And while 18 per cent of people reported suffering from photophobia (light sensitivity) as one of their symptoms, the researchers point out that this only represented a 5 per cent increase from the patients' pre-Covid-19 states. For sore eyes, just 5 per cent of participants had reported having had the condition before Covid-19.
More generally, 81 per cent of patients reported ocular issues within two weeks of other Covid-19 symptoms. Of those, 80 per cent reported that their eye problems lasted less than two weeks. The most common reported symptoms overall were fatigue (experienced by 90 per cent of respondents), a fever (76 per cent) and a dry cough (66 per cent).
The study results help scientists better understand how the Covid-19 virus spreads through the body. Conjunctivitis is currently included on the list of “less frequent” Covid-19 symptoms, along with headaches, muscle or body aches and skin rashes. However, sore eyes have very rarely been mentioned. — AFP-Relaxnews
