An Overview of Ocular Transmission as Alternative Route Transmission Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Literature Review

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) becomes a health crisis in the world. The main route of spreading COVID-19 is through the respiratory tract, but this virus also spread through the eyes. This literature review aimed to describe ocular transmission as an alternative route of COVID-19 transmission. This literature review study used sources of articles obtained through ProQuest, Springer, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar with a range of 2019-2020 publication years and was traced using a combination of search terms for ocular transmission, virus receptor, eye manifestation, and COVID-19. Previous research used Experimental design, Case study, and Cross-sectional study, and was published from 2019 to 2020. Then analyzed by the PRISMA diagram method with four stages starting from identification, screening, eligibility, and included. 4 articles used Experimental study design, 4 articles used Cross-sectional study design, and 2 articles used case study design. This study showed that COVID-19 RNA was found in the ocular (conjunctiva and cornea) in a low percentage (2.23%-24%). Patients with confirmed COVID-19 could have ocular manifestations, based on the report, conjunctivitis is the most common eye symptom, besides that also reported photophobia, Itchiness, Burning sensation, Gritty feeling, and Blurred vision. COVID-19 enters the human body through the eye by spike protein binds to eye receptors that are: ACE2, CD147/Basigin/EMMPRIN, TMPRSS2, ANPEP, and AGTR2. Then this virus is transferred to the respiratory tract through the nasolacrimal duct. This study showed that ocular transmission could be an alternative route of COVID-19 transmission even with a low percentage level. The nurse should act in disease prevention such as wearing an eye protector.