Coronavirus Can Be Contracted Through The Eyes And Tears Can Also Spread Infections – A New Study Reveals

A team of scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the United States have released a new report suggesting eyes are a perfect gateway for coronavirus to get into humans.

The study shows that the eyes contain a protein used by the disease to bind to cells. The coronavirus – scientifically called SARS-CoV-2 – latches onto ACE-2 receptors, known as the ‘gateway’ into cells inside body.

These receptors are found in the respiratory tract and the lungs, which is where the virus first infiltrates cells, as well as other organs.

The study also suggests that if droplets from an infected person’s sneeze or cough lands on the surface of the eye, the virus could begin infiltrating cells from there.

This explains why some coronavirus patients have suffered conjunctivitis – an inflammation of the eye.

In addition, the scientists revealed that tears may serve as a spread of infection.

The team was led by Lingli Zhou of the Department of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, US.

They analyzed ten human post-mortem eyes from people who did not die of COVID-19 for the expression of ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2).

The scientists also looked for TMPRSS2, an enzyme that helps viral entry following binding of the viral spike protein to ACE2.

ACE2 and TMPRSS2 must both be present in the same cell for Covid-19 to effectively replicate in the human cells.

According to the report of the scientists published on MedRxiv, all eye specimens checked by the scientists expressed ACE-2 in the tissue that lines the inside of the eyelids (conjunctiva) the clear outer layer of the eye (cornea) and the border between the cornea and the white of the eye (limbus).

TMPRSS2 was also expressed which according to the research was triggered by ‘extensive speculation’ that eye surfaces are a possible site of virus entry.

Dr Zhou and colleagues wrote;

Together, these results indicate that ocular surface cells including conjunctiva are susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, and could therefore serve as a portal of entry as well as a reservoir for person-to-person transmission of this virus.

However, this new study as at press time is yet to be peer-reviewed by other scientists.