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Presentation type	E-poster
Title	SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in conjunctival swabs and ocular surface manifestations of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia: a Belgian cohort.

Purpose	To investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the tears of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and to assess systemic and ophthalmic clinical characteristics in a Belgian cohort
Methods	Prospective study of adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed by a chest computer tomography (CT) with no recent diagnosis or exacerbation of an ocular pathology. After completing an ocular symptom questionnaire, the patients underwent a macroscopic ocular exam and a conjunctival swab. A reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed on the swabs to identify SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Clinicobiological data and PCR results of both ocular and nasopharyngeal samples were collected.
Results	Two patients of 58 (3,45%) had a positive conjunctival PCR: one with <10E3 copies/ml, the second highly positive with >=10E3 - <10E5 copies/ml. None of them had ocular symptoms. 13 patients (22%) presented ocular symptoms such as tearing (69,23%), redness (53,85%), burning 38% or itching 15,38%. Linear regression found that there was a significant statistical correlation between the presence of ocular and neurological symptoms (p= 0,021).
Conclusion	It is possible to find tear fluids with a high viral load but the probability of this occurrence appears to be rather low. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in tears was however not associated with the presence of symptoms in this study. Ocular symptoms may not be related to the presence of the virus itself.
Conflict of interest	No

Authors 1

Last name	VALYI
Initials	Z
Department	CHU Saint Pierre, Ophtalmologie
City	Bruxelles

Authors 2

Last name	Khalil
Initials	M
Department	CHU Saint Pierre, Ophtalmologie
City	Bruxelles

Authors 3

Last name	Van Den Wijngaert
Initials	S
Department	Laboratoire Hospitalier Universitaire de Bruxelles (LHUB-ULB), Microbiologie
City	Bruxelles

Authors 4

Last name	Konopnicki
Initials	D
Department	CHU Saint Pierre, Maladies Infectieuses
City	Bruxelles

Authors 5

Last name	Willermain
Initials	F
Department	CHU Saint Pierre, Ophtalmologie
City	Bruxelles

Authors 6

Last name	Bruyneel
Initials	M
Department	CHU Saint Pierre, Pneumologie
City	Bruxelles