Frontiers in Immunology (Jul 2021)

Case Report: A Re-Positive Case of SARS-CoV-2 Associated With Glaucoma

  • Xiaoli Zhou,
  • Ya-Na Zhou,
  • Ashaq Ali,
  • Ashaq Ali,
  • Cuiqin Liang,
  • Zhiqin Ye,
  • Xiaomin Chen,
  • Qing Zhang,
  • Lihua Deng,
  • Xinyi Sun,
  • Qian Zhang,
  • Jihong Luo,
  • Wei Li,
  • Kun Zhou,
  • Kun Zhou,
  • Shanshan Cao,
  • Xiaowei Zhang,
  • Xiao-Dong Li,
  • Xiao-Dong Li,
  • Xian-En Zhang,
  • Xian-En Zhang,
  • Zongqiang Cui,
  • Zongqiang Cui,
  • Dong Men,
  • Dong Men

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.701295
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has already become a global threat to the human population. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. Ocular abnormalities have been reported in association with COVID-19, but the nature of the impairments was not specified. Here, we report a case of a female patient diagnosed with glaucoma on re-hospitalization for ocular complications two months after being discharged from the hospital upon recovery from COVID-19. Meanwhile, the patient was found re-positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract. The infection was also diagnosed in the aqueous humor through immunostaining with antibodies against the N protein and S protein of SARS-CoV-2. Considering the eye is an immune-privileged site, we speculate that SARS-CoV-2 survived in the eye and resulted in the patient testing re-positive for SARS-CoV-2.

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