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Researchers analyze prevalence of COVID-19 in human post-mortem ocular tissues
COVID-19 has been found in conjunctival swabs and tears of infected patients, according to a new study published in The Ocular Surface.
The discovery prompted a research team including Shahzad Mian, M.D., an ophthalmologist at Kellogg Eye Center, to analyze the prevalence of COVID-19 in human post-mortem ocular tissues.
The results: the virus can infiltrate corneal tissue, the clear, outer layer of the eye, that could be used for transplantation in the U.S., raising concerns that the disease could be transmitted to a healthy recipient.
Of the 132 ocular tissues from 33 donors intended for surgery in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and New Jersey, 13% were positive for COVID-19, which was determined by isolating the ribonucleic acid (RNA), a molecule similar to DNA, of the patients that were known to have the virus or showed symptoms without a positive nasopharyngeal swab.