OBJECTIVES: To test conjunctival swabs from patients with laboratory-confirmed severe forms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). METHODS: Fifty conjunctival swabs were collected from 50 in-patients with laboratory-confirmed severe forms of COVID-19 at the largest teaching hospital and referral center in Brazil (HCFMUSP, São Paulo, SP). The samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 on rRT-PCR with the primers and probes described in the CDC protocol which amplify the region of the nucleocapsid N gene (2019_nCoV_N1 and 2019_nCoV_N2) of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and compared with naso/oropharyngeal swabs collected within 24 hours of the conjunctival swabs. RESULTS: Five conjunctival samples (10%) tested positive (amplification of the N1 and N2 primer/probe sets) while two conjunctival samples (4%) yielded inconclusive results (amplification of the N1 primer/probe set only). The naso/oropharyngeal swabs were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on rRT-PCR in 34 patients (68%), negative in 14 (28%) and inconclusive in 2 (4%). The 5 patients with positive conjunctival swabs had positive (n=2), negative (n=2) or inconclusive (n=1) naso/oropharyngeal swabs on rRT-PCR. Patients with negative or inconclusive naso/oropharyngeal swabs had the diagnosis of COVID-19 confirmed by previous positive rRT-PCR results or by serology. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to present conjunctival swab rRT-PCR results for SARS-CoV-2 in a Brazilian population. In our sample of 50 patients with severe forms of COVID-19, 10% had positive conjunctival swabs, most of which were correlated with positive naso/oropharyngeal rRT-PCR results.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Conjunctiva, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, Brazil, Coronavirus disease 2019, protocol, serology, hospital, polymerase chain reaction, amplification, rRT-PCR, CDC, nucleocapsid, Patient, Conjunctival swab, SARS-CoV-2 RNA, Swab, N gene, 24 hours, Chain Reaction, severe forms of COVID-19, probes, primer, positive, Primers, laboratory-confirmed, conjunctival swabs, N1 and N2, conjunctival, probe, Inconclusive, polymerase chain, tested, described, collected, form, amplify, correlated, 24 hour, diagnosis of COVID-19, in-patient, 【제목키워드】 Coronavirus disease 2019, detection, polymerase chain reaction, Patient, Conjunctival swab, reverse transcription, Coronavirus-2, polymerase chain,