RNA—but not live virus—found in corneas of deceased COVID patientsSix of 11 deceased patients—all but one of whom had COVID-19—had SARS-CoV-2 RNA in their corneas, but live virus was not detected, according to a study published today in JAMA Ophthalmology.German researchers examined six female and five male deceased coronavirus patients who underwent autopsy from Mar 20 to May 14.
One of the patients died of hemorrhagic shock, which was deemed unlikely to be related to COVID-19.They detected genomic RNA of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in 6 of the 11 (55%) corneal discs harvested and subgenomic RNA in 4 of those 6.The researchers were unable to isolate the virus or detect it on immunohistology and thus couldn't ascertain