A study finds that COVID-19 affects eye health even after overcoming it | trends

A study of several Spanish institutions determined that COVID-19 influence eye health And that it can leave traces in the eyes even after ten months of contracting the disease.

The disease, although it occurs in a mild form, can cause changes in the nervous tissue of the cornea and eye pain, the consequences of which are also associated with dry eyes, concluded the investigation by the Fernández Vega Ophthalmological Institute, the Health Research Institute of the Principality of Asturias (North) and the Institute of Neurosciences. , where the Miguel Hernandez University (UMH) in Alicante (east) and the Spanish Higher Center for Scientific Research participates.

Alberto Barros, an optometrist at the Fernández Vega Ophthalmological Institute, explained that the morphological changes found in the corneas of COVID-19 patients are “similar to those in the corneas of diabetic and those with dry eye disease,” in a study linking infection with SARS-CoV. -2 and neuropathy of small fibers in the cornea.

Said the expert, who stated that the consequences of the disease affect dryness, irritation and even attacks of pain in people’s eyes. The patients.

As a result, the eyes become more sensitive to external conditions, such as an air conditioner, and there is a feeling of grain or stinging.

Luis Fernández Vega, an ophthalmologist at Fernández-Vega Ophthalmological Institute, confirmed that this research collected a group of patients who have overcome COVID-19, examined under confocal microscopy to obtain images of corneal nerve fibers.

“91.3% of patients showed changes in the corneal nerve tissue, consistent with peripheral fiber neuropathy,” explained Vega, who noted that viral infection causes sensory fiber neuropathy, a degeneration in the elongation of nerve cells, which becomes chronic after patients recover.

Experts have found signs that these consequences can be long lasting, as in the patients studied, damage persisted three, six and ten months after the disease had cleared, and in some cases even exacerbated these changes, leading to research believing that the disease could Maintain these differences over time.

UMH researcher Joanna Gallar emphasized that the consequences that COVID-19 has on people, both during the course of the disease and after overcoming it, have been the subject of the study since knowledge of the virus.

At first, we were astonished by the fact that there were patients who had lost their sense of smell and could not appreciate the flavours. We know that the somatosensory function of this feeling is mediated by the trigeminal nerve and it shares a branch feeding the cornea,” the professor commented.

Gallar concluded, “By evaluating the innervation of the cornea, we can tell if there is any change in that nerve associated with the infection with the Corona virus.”