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Does Wearing Eyeglasses Help Keep Coronavirus Out?

by Iswarya on Oct 8 2020 10:03 AM

Does Wearing Eyeglasses Help Keep Coronavirus Out?
We've all been advised to protect ourselves against SARS-CoV-2 virus infection during the current pandemic that causes COVID-19 by physical distancing, masking, and frequent hand-washing. But, a research team in China implies that a fourth defensive measure might also help: eye protection. The findings of the study are published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.
However, Johns Hopkins Medicine experts report that it doesn't mean everyone should wear a pair of Clark Kent spectacles to improve their "superpowers" during a coronavirus attack.

Weibiao Zeng and colleagues at three other Chinese medical institutions did a retrospective study using 276 people living in China's Hubei Province who tested positive for the COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic. The researchers discovered that the proportion of patients wearing eyeglasses over eight hours per day was significantly lower than the general population.

From these data, the researchers claim that wearing eyeglasses more than a third of the day could provide some protection against COVID infection and that eyeglasses may serve as a partial barrier to help keep people from touching their eyes.

"The findings, although interesting, should not be regarded as conclusive proof that the general public should start wearing goggles or other ocular personal protective equipment, face shields, along with wearing masks and not touching their eyes to obtain any substantial protection from COVID-19 infection," states Lisa Maragakis at the Johns Hopkins University School.

Maragakis says there are various reasons for her caution.

"The study looks at a time very early in the COVID pandemic before universal masking, physical distancing became common prevention practices. There may be confounding variables or an alternative explanation for the possible protective effect of eyeglasses, and the data on the general population against which the eyeglasses-wearing habits of the study patients are compared were collected years ago in a different region of China," she reveals.

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However, Maragakis says more studies using data from both people who previously had coronavirus and from patients newly diagnosed with the disease would help verify the study's findings and better define any benefit for the general public by adding eye protection as defensive practice.

Source-Medindia


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