Ophthalmological aspects of COVID-19 – literature review and our experience

Posljednjih se mjeseci suočavamo s pandemijom uzrokovanom novim, izuzetno zaraznim virusom, koja je izazvala globalnu zdravstvenu krizu. Svjetska je zdravstvena organizacija virus nazvala SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-coronavirus-2), a bolest koju uzrokuje COVID-19 (engl. coronavirus disease-2019). Primarni način prenošenja SARS-CoV-2 je primarnim kontaktom i kapljičnim putem. Čini se kako postoji mogućnost prijenosa virusa i zaraženom površinom oka i sekretima. Tijekom kliničkog pregleda neizbježan je blizak kontakt oftalmologa s bolesnicima, što može predstavljati rizik od prijenosa infekcije. Iako konjunktivitis nije uobičajeni znak COVID-19, postoje izvještaji koji govore o mogućim okularnim manifestacijama bolesti. Stoga se naglašava važnost primjene preventivnih mjera radi kontrole širenja zaraze za oftalmologe, ostale zdravstvene djelatnike i bolesnike tijekom oftalmološkog pregleda. Objavljujemo najnovije podatke iz literature i smjernice za oftalmološku djelatnost te iznosimo naše iskustvo s Klinike za očne bolesti Kliničkog bolničkog centra Zagreb tijekom epidemije SARS-CoV-2.In recent months we have encountered a pandemic caused by a new highly contagious virus that has evolved into a global healthcare crisis. The World Health Organization has named the virus SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-coronavirus-2) and disease caused by it COVID-19 ("coronavirus disease"). The primary route of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is direct person-to-person contact and through droplets. It seems that there is a possibility of ocular transmission of the virus by contagious ocular surface and discharges. Close contact between ophthalmologists and patients is unavoidable during clinical examination and this may pose a risk for infection transmission. Although conjunctivitis is not a common sign of COVID-19, there are reports about possible ocular manifestations of the disease. Therefore, the importance of implementation of preventive measures to control the transmission of infection for ophthalmologists, healthcare professionals and patients during the ophthalmological examination is emphasized. We report the latest published data from literature and guidelines for ophthalmologic practice and introduce our experience from Department of Ophthalmology, Clinical Hospital Center Zagreb during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic