Korean J Fam Med.  2021 Nov;42(6):487-490. 10.4082/kjfm.20.0090.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Presenting as Conjunctivitis

• Ying NY
• Idris NS
• Muhamad R
• Ahmad I

• KMID: 2522865
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.20.0090

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The world is currently challenged to handle this pandemic. The common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. There are few reports on the association of SARS-CoV-2 with ocular abnormalities including conjunctivitis. We report a case of a 54-year-old woman who presented solely with conjunctivitis subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19. A lack of full history of her travel abroad was another issue leading to a delay in evaluating her COVID-19 status that increased the infection risk to her managing team. Thus, primary care practitioners should be suspicious of this atypical feature of COVID-19, thus enabling us to identify such patients at entry points. Maintaining safety measures while managing patients is also crucial.

Keyword

Conjunctivitis; Coronavirus; COVID-19; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2