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he caught coronavirus through his eyes |
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Tabitha111 
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Joined: January 11 2020 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 11640 |
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 Topic: he caught coronavirus through his eyesPosted: May 14 2020 at 2:46pm |
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An infectious disease expert says he caught the coronavirus through his eyes on a flight to New Orleans that was “packed in like sardines,” according to a report Thursday. Dr. Joseph Fair — a virologist and epidemiologist who has spent decades studying deadly viruses such as Ebola — was wearing a mask and gloves on the April 24 plane trip to New Orleans but fell critically ill soon after. “I had a mask on. I had gloves on. I did my normal wipes routine, everything like that. But, you know, obviously you can still get it through your eyes,” Fair, 42, told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview from his hospital bed. He said the airline did not abide by social distancing measures — which he believes led to him catching the virus after droplets touched his eyes. He didn’t reveal the name of the airline he flew on or where he was coming from. “You know, that’s one of the three known routes of getting this infection that we don’t pay a lot of attention to. We tend to focus on the nose and mouth because that’s the most common route,” he said. “Droplets landing on your eyes are just as infectious and of course I wasn’t wearing goggles on the flight.” Four days after the flight, Fair said, he became sick with severe flu-like symptoms that spiraled into “a kind of walking pneumonia,” landing him in a hospital. He said it felt like he could only breathe 25 percent of the air he tried to inhale, but was given oxygen instead of being intubated. Over the next few days, he improved dramatically, he said. ***snip** He added, “You don’t want to have [the virus]. That’s all I can tell you.” |
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'A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.'
--Confucius |
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FluMom
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Valued Member Since 2006 Joined: February 03 2020 Location: Colorado Status: Offline Points: 14695 |
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Posted: May 14 2020 at 5:17pm |
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WOW why I am not going back to work in a school. Kids cough and sneeze in your face and can you see a 6 - 12 yr old wearing a mask...NO! I have tried to tell my older friends who work with me that they had better wear gloves, masks and goggles. They think I am nuts! |
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CRS, DrPH
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Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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Posted: May 15 2020 at 1:06am |
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I don't know why this would surprise any of us. The eyes are very vulnerable to viral infections, and this damn SARS-CoV2 is so easily transmitted, I'm sure many cases are acquired via the ocular route. That is the first thing I thought of when I saw this photo in the news, this is a crazy protester in Michigan, screaming in the face of an office of the law. They should all be wearing goggles or face-shields.
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CRS, DrPH
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CRS, DrPH
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Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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Posted: May 15 2020 at 1:14am |
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FM, please read this: https://nypost.com/2020/05/11/coronavirus-can-enter-the-body-through-the-eyes-study/ Your instincts are correct.... The novel coronavirus can be transmitted through the eyes because of a protein known as the “gateway” into cells inside the body, according to a new study. A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that the eyes create the protein called ACE-2, making them a target for the virus, according to the Mirror. The protein also can be found in the respiratory tract and the lungs. “Ocular surface cells including conjunctiva are susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, and could therefore serve as a portal of entry as well as a reservoir for person-to-person transmission of this virus,” lead researcher Lingli Zhou wrote in the study published on bioRxiv. The researchers studied 10 eyes from people who did not die of COVID-19 and discovered that ACE2 was present in all of them, including the cornea, inside the eyelids and in the white of the eye, according to the news outlet. “Infection of ocular surface cells could lead to the eye as being an important carrier, with ocular virus shedding constituting a significant mechanism for infection of other individuals,” the scientists said. “Our study therefore highlights the importance of safety practices in the general community to prevent infection and spread (hygiene, face masks) and need for extra caution among ophthalmologists.” The study suggests that if droplets from an infected person’s sneeze or cough were to reach the eye’s tissue, the pathogen could begin infiltrating cells there. This may be why some patients have developed conjunctivitis, an inflammation of the eye that causes it to become red and infected, the Express reported. Tears also may help spread the infection, scientists said. Doctors first claimed the virus could be spread through the eyes in January, when the epicenter was still in Wuhan, China. Dr. Wang Guangfa said at the time that he believed he had been infected because he had not been wearing protective goggles, the Express reported. Several days before experiencing pneumonia, the Peking University respiratory specialist observed that his eyes were red. |
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CRS, DrPH
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