{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,30]],"date-time":"2025-07-30T16:11:22Z","timestamp":1753891882643,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,27]],"date-time":"2025-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740614400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Ophthalmol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence and timing of ocular surface manifestations in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, providing insights into the occurrence of eye involvement before, during, or after the illness. This study contributes to understanding the extent of ocular involvement in COVID-19, which has been suggested to occur due to potential viral entry through the eyes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>451 confirmed COVID-19 patients had a history of hospitalization in Styria, Austria. The study included 176 patients aged 18-95 years who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swabs by RT-PCR and received treatment at two hospitals. Telephone interviews were conducted after recovery, focusing on ocular symptoms and medical history (openMEDOCS).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Seventeen percent (n=30) reported new-onset ocular symptoms in the context of COVID-19. Patients with ocular symptoms were younger (p&amp;lt;0.001). Sore throat (p=0.013) and high fever (p=0.038) were significantly more prevalent in patients with new-onset ocular symptoms. Persistent ocular symptoms beyond the duration of hospitalization affected more than half (56.7%) of the participants with new-onset ocular symptoms. However, there were no differences in blood parameters, lung imaging, or comorbidities between groups with and without ocular symptoms.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>In hospitalized COVID-19 patients, ocular symptoms occur with a significant prevalence of 17%. Younger age (p&amp;lt;0.001) and the presence of sore throat (p=0.013) are associated with an increased risk of developing new-onset ocular symptoms in the context of COVID-19.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fopht.2025.1540904","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,27]],"date-time":"2025-02-27T07:16:51Z","timestamp":1740640611000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Ocular symptoms in COVID-19 patients with a history of hospitalization in the first pandemic wave in Styria, Austria"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Andreas","family":"Guttmann","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Astrid","family":"Heidinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nora","family":"Woltsche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marianne","family":"Brodmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katharina","family":"Kurzmann-G\u00fctl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Viktoria","family":"Nemecz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matthias","family":"Kaindl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Herbert","family":"Wurzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gerold","family":"Schwantzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jutta","family":"Horwath-Winter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jmv.25678","article-title":"Outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, China: The mystery and the miracle","volume":"92","author":"Lu","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Virol"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1213\/xaa.0000000000001218","article-title":"Coronavirus disease 2019","volume":"14","author":"Culp","year":"2020","journal-title":"A A Pract"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abb2806","article-title":"Update: \u2018A bit chaotic.\u2019 Christening of new coronavirus and its disease name create confusion","author":"Enserink","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci (1979)"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/22221751.2020.1719902","article-title":"Genomic characterization of the 2019 novel human-pathogenic coronavirus isolated from a patient with atypical pneumonia after visiting Wuhan","volume":"9","author":"Chan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Emerg Microbes Infect"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/mmbr.00058-12","article-title":"Ocular tropism of respiratory viruses","volume":"77","author":"Belser","year":"2013","journal-title":"Microbiol Mol Biol Rev"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajo.2003.09.060","article-title":"Ocular screening in severe acute respiratory syndrome","volume":"137","author":"Yuen","year":"2004","journal-title":"Am J Ophthalmol"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/FMED.2020.00200\/FULL","article-title":"Doxycycline: from ocular rosacea to COVID-19 anosmia. 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