Facts and Myths about Contact Lenses and COVID19

GOOD MORNING OPTOMETRY YOUTUBE

Hey everyone.

Dr. Michael Nelson here and today I’m sitting in our contact lens areabecause

I am talking about Facts and Myths about contact lens during a COVID19 pandemic.

Good Optometry Morning

Question 1:  Can I get infected by COVID19 if the virus gets in my eyes?

That’s a fact Jack!

COVID19 is spread by respiratory droplets that make contact with muscous membranes like nose mouth or eyes.

Question 2: If I have COVID19 can I spread it if someone touches my tears?

Maybe Baby!

The COVID19 virus has been found in tears but in only in very few patients.

One study showed that only 1 of 30 patients with COVID 19 had the virus in their tears. ¹

Another study took 64 samples from 17 patients with COVID19 and not one of them had the virus in their tears.²

So while it’s possible, there no studies or reports that someone has been infected with COVID19 through tears.

Question 3: Does COVID19 cause eye infections?

That’s a Fact Jack.   But I’m saying it quietly because it’s not common.

There are a couple of studies that have looked at symptoms and it seems about 1-3 percent, of patients, with COVID19 have had an associated eye infection.  So it is possible that an eye infection could be a symptom of COVID19, but it is not typical.  More importantly it is possible to be COVID19 positive and have no symptoms at all.

Question 4: Does wearing contact lenses put you at more risk?

No Way Jose!

No.  Putting in contacts with clean hands and wearing contacts do not put you at more risk.   However, if you don’t wash your hands touch your face (or eyes) that does put you at more risk.  Wash your hands.

Question 5: Do contact lenses protect me?

No Way Jose

Some people think contacts might protect your eyes more because they add layer between your eyes and the respiratory droplets…the answer is no.

Question 6: I see health care workers wearing goggles and masks. Do regular glasses protect me?

Not Likely Mikey.

The answer is there is no evidence regular glasses help protect you.

Here are the 2 opposing points on this:

First, Yes glasses might stop some droplets reaching your eyes but some can still get around them.…so maybe they provide some protection versus nothing at all.

Second, A study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that covid19 can survive for 2-3 days on plastics, like eyeglasses.   So it your glasses have a virus on them and you touch them and then touch your eyes mouth or nose….

So two tips:  clean your glasses regularly.  Don’t let glasses give you a false sense of security.

Question 7: If I am sick should I stop wearing contacts?  

That’s the fact Jack!

Yes.  We always tell patients this.  With all due respect to COVID19 there are things that are more dangerous to your eyes than viruses…….bacteria, fungi, amaeba….and if your immune system is reduced because it is fighting off some other infection, it will be harder for it to deal with these other organisms in your eyes.

Question 8:  Do contact lens solutions kill COVID19?

We are pretty sure they do but no one has really studied it.

Like I said previously the organisms that are the biggest risks to contact lens wearers are bacteria, fungi and ameaba….these solutions are formulated to kill these.   Viruses are not normally a large risk to the eye….so they don’t really test against viruses like COVID19.   They have tested against viruses like Hep C and HIV and contact lens solutions will kill those viruses.  There have also been studies testing if hydrogen peroxide kills viruses like COVID19 and there are some contact lenses solutions that use hydrogen peroxide in higher doses than in these studies.   If I was to bet, I’d bet that contact lens solutions kill COVID19 but  if in doubt consider a daily disposable lenses.  A daily disposable with clean hands will have little risk for viral infection.

So there are some Facts and Myths and in closing I want to leave you with 5 tips from a study³ by Dr Lyndon Jones and colleges from the  Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) – University of Waterloo School of Optometry that have researched these myths around COVID19

1. It’s okay to wear contact lens.
2. Clean your contacts and case OR wear daily disposable
3. Don’t feel your glasses provide you extra protection
4. Don’t touch your face with dirty hands
5. If you are sick, temporarily stop wearing contacts

Thanks again for listen.  If you liked this video, please hit the subscribe button and please leave a comment or question and have a Great Optometry Day!

1. Xia, J. Tong, M. Liu, Y. Shen, D. Guo, Evaluation of coronavirus in tears and conjunctival secretions of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, J Med Virol In press (2020).
2. Jun, D.E. Anderson, A.E. Kang, L.-F. Wang, P. Rao, B.E. Young, D.C. Lye, R. Agrawal, Assessing Viral Shedding and Infectivity of Tears in CoronavirusDisease 2019 (COVID-19) Patients, Ophthalmology In press (2020).
3. http://covideyefacts.org/

Global News Report interviewing Dr. Nelson on this topic.