ReviewInternational ophthalmology2021
Ocular tropism of coronavirus (CoVs): a comparison of the interaction between the animal-to-human transmitted coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, CoV-229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1) and the eye.
Review in International ophthalmology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rhino-Orbital Mucormycosis Following COVID-19 Viral Vector Vaccination in an Immunocompetent Patient.Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Ocular Symptoms in Long COVID: A Cross-Sectional Study.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Clinical utility of pembrolizumab in the management of orbital recurrence of uveal melanoma: case report.American journal of ophthalmology case reports · 2025Article
- Ocular and Neurological Sequelae in Long COVID: Dry Eye, Asthenopia, Sleep Disorders, Asthenia, and Restless Legs Syndrome-A Case Report with Literature Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Case series on 2 cases of macular damage caused by the novel coronavirus: A case report.Medicine · 2025Article
- Effects of COVID-19 on the contrast sensitivity.Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2025Article
- Case report: Eyelid symptoms as an early harbinger of staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome: a novel pattern of disease onset.Frontiers in ophthalmology · 2025Article
- Dayuan Yin alleviates symptoms of HCoV-229E-induced pneumonia and modulates the Ras/Raf1/MEK/ERK pathway.Natural products and bioprospecting · 2024Article
- Cycle threshold values of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in conjunctival swabs and nasopharyngeal secretions: a comparative study from a tertiary care center in India.International ophthalmology · 2024Article
- Detection of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in ocular samples is linked to viral load in the nasopharynx.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Infection Impairs Oculomotor Functions: A Longitudinal Eye-tracking Study.Journal of eye movement research · 2024Article
- Tracking severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission and co-infection with other acute respiratory pathogens using a sentinel surveillance system in Rift Valley, Kenya.Influenza and other respiratory viruses · 2023Article
- Alkaloids as potential antivirals. A comprehensive review.Natural products and bioprospecting · 2023Review
- Detection of Airborne Influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 Virus Shedding following Ocular Inoculation of Ferrets.Journal of virology · 2022Article
- Increased proinflammatory cytokines in tears correspond with conjunctival SARS-CoV-2 positivity in symptomatic COVID-19 patients.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Neuroinflammation and COVID-19 Ischemic Stroke Recovery-Evolving Evidence for the Mediating Roles of the ACE2/Angiotensin-(1-7)/Mas Receptor Axis and NLRP3 Inflammasome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Nanomaterials to combat SARS-CoV-2: Strategies to prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Review
- Insights on the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 transmission through the eyes.International journal of ophthalmology · 2022Review
- Viral S protein histochemistry reveals few potential SARS-CoV-2 entry sites in human ocular tissues.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Antiviral performance of graphene-based materials with emphasis on COVID-19: A review.Medicine in drug discovery · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeSeveral studies have reported conflicting results on ocular manifestations and transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) whose causative virus, SARS-CoV-2, belongs to the coronavirus family, the seventh recognized as a human pathogen and the third causing a severe clinical syndrome. COVID-19 primarily affects the lungs, similar to the other human coronaviruses. Comparing the relation between the animal-to-human transmitted coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-Cov-2, MERS-CoV, CoV-229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1) and the eye may contribute to determining their actual eye-tissue tropism and risk of ocular transmission.
methodsLiterature review was conducted via Pubmed.gov, Google Scholar and medRixv using the following keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, CoV-229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1, conjunctivitis, tear swab, ocular expression, ocular symptoms and human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 expression. Studies with lack in methodology were excluded.
resultsSixteen observational studies were selected. The range for detection of viral RNA in tears was 0-8% for SARS-CoV-1 and 0-5.3% for SARS-CoV-2, while no reports were found for other coronaviruses. Ocular manifestations have been reported for NL63 and SARS-CoV-2. Ocular symptoms in the form of conjunctivitis/conjunctival congestion predominantly were detected in 65 (3.17%) out of 2048 reported patients with COVID-19 (range of 0.8-32%). Eye symptoms were not reported for the other coronaviruses.
conclusionsData aggregation for coronaviruses shows a relatively low eye-tissue tropism. Conjunctival congestion is an uncommon manifestation of COVID-19 similar to all human coronaviruses' infections. In a low percentage of patients, the virus can be excreted in ocular fluids at different stages of the infection, regardless of positive SARS-Cov-2 throat swab. Albeit high viral loads in ocular tissue seem to have relatively low prevalence, the eye should be regarded as a potential source of infection dissemination for COVID-19.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.