You have heard that you can catch the virus of Covid if the person who is suffering from the virus already sneezes or coughs. The droplets that contain viruses enter through your mouth or nose.
But can seriously you become an infected one if the virus enters your body through the eyes? Is it another reason or the way of the virus that can make you ill? Virologist Joseph Fair is working as a contributor. He had done a Ph.D.
When coronavirus was at its peak and it was targeting most of the population in the world then he came ill from this disease. He told the network that he had flown in a plane that was crowded with people. All the attendants were free of masks.
He reported from the hospital bed of this hometown that is located in New Orleans. Joseph said that he wore gloves and a mask but he did not wear anything for the protection of his eyes. He told an interviewer that he had guessed it.
The virus attacked him through his eyes. He thought that eyes are another route for the virus to enter your body. According to his opinion, people should not avoid different eye protections.
The experts are not sure if that virus can enter the human body through the eyes but Joseph suggested that eye protection can help to protect yourself from the coronavirus. Many points are still unknown about the new coronavirus SARS-COV-2.
Researchers are still identifying that either the coronavirus can enter the human body through the eyes or not. H. Nida Sen is an MD director at the Uveitis Clinic. She is working as a clinical investigator at National Eye Institute.
- Nida said that she is not sure that coronavirus can enter the human body through the eyes. She said doctors cannot claim this opinion with 100% confidence. She is studying about the COVID-19 that can enter through the eyes or not.
She said that it may be plausible biologically. Elia Duh is working as an MD, professor of Ophthalmology, and researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine that is located in Baltimore. Some researchers agree with the opinion of Elia.
Conjunctiva is a clear tissue that is a covering of whitish parts of the human eye. It is present inside of the eyelid. Elia said that the virus can infect this tissue such as adenoviruses appear in the common cold.
Duh also reported that the chances of infections are similar because of the SARS-COV-2. The fronts of the eyes become also exposed to the sneezing or coughing directly similar to passages of the nasal become exposed when an individual who is infected coughs or sneezes.
Even when an infected person speaks in front of the eyes of a normal person then his eyes are exposed too to catch the virus. Additionally, people don’t stop touching or rubbing their noses. There are a lot of chances and vulnerabilities to catch the virus already.
Researchers are struggling to identify the surfaces of eyes that make a human eye vulnerable to catch the virus from an infected person. They have reported that eye surfaces produce a specific enzyme that helps the virus to enter the eyes.
This enzyme is named TMPRSS2. Duh says that to find a clear justification more research is needed in this area. But all the evidence goes towards a conclusion that the cells of ocular surfaces are susceptible to coronavirus infection.
Duh also says that if this is the case then the virus could also be transmitted in the human body through the tear ducts. These tear ducts linked the eyes to the nasal cavity. The tear ducts also infect the respiratory cells.
Edward E. Manche is working as a professor of Ophthalmology. He is also an MD at Stanford University Medical School. Prof. Edward says that doctors are not sure about the opinion that eye infection can really happen or not.
Researchers studying covid-19 symptoms explained that the virus works in a certain way and enters through the passages of the nasal and mouth generally. It can enter the mucosal tissues.
Manche says that the least common way of transmission of the virus could be the eyes. Researchers are not only working to identify that eyes are the way of infection transmission or not but they are also working to explore whether infected people can infect others or not.
Infected people may infect others through the secretions of their eyes or tears. Duh says that if someone touches or rubes the eyes surface the transmission mechanism in that individual can happen. Doctors have also detected the COVID-19 virus in the tears of infected people.
They have also found it in the conjunctival swab specimens. It shows the contagiousness of the coronavirus. Eyes and tears can transmit the virus for a longer time. It is important to follow all the precautionary measures to protect yourself and others from the COVID.