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Coronavirus can cause eye problems in some patients, says Royal College

Moorfields NHS Eye Hospital in London, one of the UK's leading centres, has called for better data collection of coronavirus-related eye conditions
Moorfields NHS Eye Hospital in London, one of the UK's leading centres, has called for better data collection of coronavirus-related eye conditions
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

Eye problems have been detected in coronavirus patients and should be recorded in order to better understand the connection, leading doctors have said.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists revealed that it was aware of a handful of cases of viral conjunctivitis in people with Covid-19.

Separately, experts said that ophthalmic complications from the virus can affect people's eyesight.

It comes after Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's chief adviser, said his reason for conducting a 60-mile round-trip from his parents' home in Durham during the lockdown – on the face of it, a breach of the rules – was to test his vision before driving to London after recovering from suspected Covid-19.

"I'd been extremely ill. My vision had been a bit weird," he said on Monday.

Although British experts are aware of only a small number of cases in the UK, a Chinese study found that the virus affected the eyes of approximately one third of patients.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for Moorfields NHS Eye Hospital in London, one of the UK's leading centres, called for better data collection of coronavirus-related eye conditions.

Earlier in the crisis, Government experts spent weeks downplaying the significance of the loss of taste and smell as a possible symptom, only to add it to the official case definition last week.

Robert MacLaren, professor of opthalmology at the University of Oxford, said: "Coronavirus can affect the eyes in several ways.

"It was reported in approximately one third of patients in Wuhan [the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak] in a recent study. The ocular manifestations in the Wuhan patients included conjunctivitis, conjunctival hyperemia [red eye], chemosis [eye swelling], epiphora [watery eye] and increased secretions [sticky eye].

"Any of the above symptoms may affect vision, and affected patients would be advised to drive with caution or not at all if there was significant blurring of vision or double vision."

It is already known that other upper respiratory tract infections can cause conjunctivitis, an irritation of the membrane covering the eye. For the majority of patients, this is mild and does not affect eyesight.

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Covid-19 is not thought to cause permanent sight loss, although research is ongoing into some very rare cases of sight loss that appear to be secondary to complications such as blood clots.

A Moofields spokesman said: "At present, there is very little evidence to suggest that Covid-19  can affect eyesight. Cases where Covid-19 is recorded alongside an impact on eyesight are rare, so we cannot establish a direct causal effect.

"We need more data to be collected on Covid-19 related eye conditions to see if there is an association."

It came as the Association of Optometrists warned motorists not to neglect their eye health during lockdown, and to contact an expert before driving if they had any concerns.