Ocular Symptoms and Outcomes in Children With COVID-19
By Lynda Seminara
Selected and Reviewed By: Neil M. Bressler, MD, and Deputy Editors
Journal Highlights
JAMA Ophthalmology, October 2020
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Little is known about the symptoms and clinical course of COVID-19 in pediatric patients. In a study at Wuhan Children’s Hospital, Ma et al. evaluated children with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. They found that cough and systemic clinical symptoms were commonly linked to conjunctival discharge and eye rubbing. The ocular issues resolved or improved over time.
The study included 216 hospitalized children (mean age, 7.25 years; range, 2.6-11.6 years). Main outcome measures were the onset and duration of clinical symptoms (including ocular signs) and the need for medication. Among symptomatic children, the most common symptoms were fever (37.5%) and cough (36.6%). No systemic or respiratory symptom was observed in 43.1% of the study population. Recovery occurred in all children whose symptoms were mild (46.8%) or moderate (53.2%).
Ocular symptoms were noted in 49 children (22.7%) and were the first signs of COVID in nine. The most common ocular issues were conjunctival discharge (55.1%), eye rubbing (38.8%), and conjunctival congestion (10.2%), and they were more likely to occur in children with cough or systemic symptoms.
Management of the 49 patients with ocular symptoms included observation without treatment or eyedrops. Forty-one of these patients recovered fully; the other eight had persistent eye rubbing. The median duration of ocular symptoms was seven days.
The original article can be found here.