COVID-19

A study detailed at the 22nd EURETINA Congress in Hamburg, Germany, documented a spectrum of manifestations following COVID-19 infections in an otherwise immunocompetent patient presenting at a tertiary care center.

Researchers have found that social media use among physicians jumped during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the role it plays in networking, mentorship and support among ophthalmologists remains unknown.

The debate continues about the protective effect of eyeglasses against contracting the COVID-19 virus. Researchers from Denmark reported that their results were inconclusive regarding whether wearing eyeglasses is linked with a decreased risk of COVID-19 infections.

Symptoms in the eye may not be substantial in patients with COVID-19.

For health care workers, the pandemic has led to increased burnout, concerns about workplace safety, and staffing shortages that threaten not only patient care but also the entire provider ecosystem.

During a presentation at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s 2022 annual meeting in Denver, Yuichi Hori, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that taping the top border of a surgical mask to a clinicians’ skin reduces the potential for ocular surface damage resulting from expirations of air reaching the ocular surface during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study, by investigators from the Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, supported the use of at-home tests during teleophthalmology care, an important point considering the significant drop in in-person VA evaluations during the pandemic.

The country’s Ministry of Health has issued infringement notices to two ophthalmologist for seeing patients while unvaccinated.

Investigators theorize that the ophthalmic nerve may be affected by the COVID-19 virus, and therefore may affect the corneal esthesiometry values.

Investigators have questioned the potential for the vascular density to be a biomarker for microvascular abnormalities following COVID-19 and found that longitudinal studies are needed to determine this.

Investigators at the Eye Clinic, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy, found that the appearance of the retina and optic disc was associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

A pair of Japanese ophthalmologists have concluded that SARS-CoV-2 may target lacrimal gland tissue and manifest as chronic inflammation.

According to investigators at the University of Washington, Seattle, the COVID-19 pandemic has made measuring IOP challenging because of the potential to spread the virus.

A team of investigators examined the association between COVID-19 transmissibility and elapsed time since infection, and found that SARS-CoV-2 may still be transmissible 10 days post-infection.

The new variant is described as a "subvariant" of the omicron variant and is closely related to omicron, though it has some different mutations.

Researchers collected data on COVID-19 symptoms via online surveys from in excess of 1 million 23andMe participants who self-reported their COVID-19 symptoms.

Investigators find that successful outcomes may depend on the awareness of red-flag symptoms and signs.

According to the companies, the trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immune response of the vaccine that can be administered as a primary shot and a booster.

Canadian researchers have found that rapid antigen tests to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus are associated with a very low rate of false positive results.

As the omicron variant continues to surge across the country, putting staff at many practices on edge, waning immunity may be driving an increase in virus infections.

Informed guidelines are needed to diagnose and treat COVID-19 patients with neurologic manifestations, according to investigators.

The investigators believe that, based on their findings, the impact of COVID-19 on the autonomous nervous system warrants further prospective studies and assessment of pupillary function might be a useful test for determining autonomic dysfunction.

Investigators say study validates the importance of history-based donor screening while also demonstrating that postmortem PCR testing as a criterion for procurement and subsequent use of tissue isn’t necessary.

Delayed presentations and acute shortage of donor corneal tissues for emergency keratoplasty are among reasons given for adverse outcome.

Investigators have cited the need for pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions to improve the ongoing burden after hospitalization for COVID-19.

A team of Danish investigators have found an increased link between the Moderna vaccination and development of myocarditis or myopericarditis. Meanwhile, the Pfizer vaccination was found to have a significantly increased risk of cardiac adverse effects only among women.

The company continues to develop testing options that deliver accurate detection and correctly identify SARS-CoV-2 mutations to help patients and healthcare providers manage the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Patients’ reluctance to visit a clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing retina specialists to optimize therapy.

AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, MD, said in a statement that President Joe Biden’s pandemic plan will make communities safer amid an evolving pandemic and confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.