Healio | OSN Pediatrics Board discusses COVID-19 conjunctivitis reports
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A study of 40 patients recently published in Cureus suggested that SARS-CoV-2 may be transmissible via ocular routes.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, it may be possible for COVID-19 to cause pink eye infection, although it is rare.
Healio | OSN Pediatrics/Strabismus Board Members discussed reports of COVID-19-related conjunctivitis, COVID strain XBB.1.16, also known as Arcturus, and the potential impact on children.
Robert S. Gold, MD: Let’s discuss these reports of COVID-19 Arcturus conjunctivitis in kids. Have you seen it? Is it the same as what you have seen before? Are you worried that your entire office will be infected with COVID-19? How are you dealing with it? I have not seen a case of this in our area yet. I think this is a condition that warrants discussion.
Douglas R. Fredrick, MD, FAAP: There was one report from an ophthalmologist in India who said, essentially, “I’m seeing some kids with COVID-19, and they look just like they have adenovirus.” That story was picked up by the mainstream media, and it became a real thing. My wife works at a pediatrician’s office, and everyone with pink eye is coming in thinking that their child has COVID-19.
Have they seen some of these cases in the pediatrician’s office? Yes, COVID-19 is still around. Children are still contracting COVID-19. Cases can be mild, and COVID-19 looks like adenovirus sometimes. They have a little fever, a snotty nose and a sore throat, and they turn out to be COVID positive.
Is it subtype Arcturus? I am not sure. I don’t know who is performing the serotyping here, but our patients are going to ask about it. Overall, we are seeing COVID-19 present in much milder fashion. The topic always comes up. Pediatricians are asking, “Do I have to treat this the same way as regular pink eye adenovirus?” That question is another issue we could spend all day talking about, but many pediatricians will give these children a topical antibiotic and say, “Take this for 2 days and then go back to school.”
Gold: And in that case, they may give the rest of the kids at school COVID.
Fredrick: Exactly. People are still contracting COVID-19. COVID is still out there, and the question is, should we encourage our parents to be responsible and keep their kids out of school when they are sick? The answer to that question is yes, we should.
Erin D. Stahl, MD: Pink eye in our area would not make it into our office. Those cases would stay with the pediatricians. We have not received many questions on COVID conjunctivitis from local pediatricians. I think it is funny — and you both hit the nail on the head — that we would direct pediatricians to treat this like they would normally treat adenovirus, which is to not treat adenovirus. It is important to test for COVID-19 when appropriate, when it is going to change your management, and I would not advise pediatricians to do anything different.
- References:
- Pink eye may be a symptom of COVID-19 in children. https://www.aao.org/eye-health/news/pink-eye-symptom-covid19-coronavirus-children. Published April 21, 2023. Accessed Sept. 21, 2023.
- Singh K, et al. Cureus. 2023;doi:10.7759/cureus.44589.
- For more information:
- Douglas R. Fredrick, MD, of Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco, can be reached at douglas.r.fredrick@kp.org.
- Robert S. Gold, MD, of Eye Physicians of Central Florida, can be reached at rsgeye@gmail.com.
- Erin D. Stahl, MD, of Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Missouri, can be reached at edstahl@cmh.edu.
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