COVID-19 and macular edema: a necessarily blindness?
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
COVID-19 and macular edema: a necessarily blindness? Valentin Navel 1
&
Julien S Baker 2 & Frédéric Dutheil 3
Received: 7 June 2020 / Revised: 7 June 2020 / Accepted: 8 July 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Dear Editor, We read with interest the article by Korobelnik et al. highlighting the risk of exposure to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for both the patient receiving intravitreal injections and healthcare staff [1]. Authors concluded that ophthalmologists should consider simplifying treatment regimens for patients receiving intravitreal injections to reduce the risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spreading in at-risk patients. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are worldwide major causes of blindness resulting from alterations in the central part of the retina. Affecting more than 300 million people, AMD and DR are associated with macular edema involving the loss of the central visual field, cecity, and as a consequence, functional handicap [2, 3]. The aging population over 60 years of age is the most affected by AMD and DR [4–6]. This aging population with associated comorbidities is particularly at-risk of death by SARS-CoV-2. This highly contagious viral pneumonia was initially described in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in early December 2019, and rapidly spread around the world as a result of modern transportation [7, 8]. To avoid or reduce a sanitary disaster, worldwide authorities in conjunction with the World Health Organization Comment on: “Guidance for anti-VEGF intravitreal injections during the COVID-19 pandemic.” * Valentin Navel [email protected] 1
Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, GReD, Translational Approach to Epithelial Injury and Repair, CHU Clermont-Ferrand, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, Ophthalmology, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
2
Centre for Health and Exercise Science Research, Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
3
Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, CHU Clermont-Ferrand, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, Preventive and Occupational Medicine, Witty Fit, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
(WHO) promulgated quarantine status of infected points. The WHO reported several thousand deaths and several hundred thousand cases in Spring 2020, with upward trending [9]. Several countries closed their frontiers, schools, universities, all social gathering places, and confined retirement homes. Public hospitals and private clinics reduced their healthcare activities to promote emergency unit organization, and focused on life-saving procedures. As the media placed great emphasis on the lethal aspect of COVID-19, people are afraid of leaving their homes even if they required ophthalmological attention. These individuals can also be confined officially, by the authorities, with commuting limited to only emergency healthcare acce
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