Wuhan coronavirus can be transmitted through the EYES, says Chinese doctor after he contracted the disease
Renowned Chinese doctor Wang Guangfa, who helped China fight the deadly SARS virus in the early 2000s, has shocked the world by revealing that he may have contracted the coronavirus, which is currently causing havoc in China.
Guangfa, who led a team of experts to Wuhan, the Chinese province where the deadly virus first surfaced, said that he contracted the virus because he wasn't wearing any protective glasses while visiting patients affected by it.
Leading experts around the world concurred with Guangfa, saying that the deadly SARS-like virus could not only spread through sneezes and coughs but also eyes.
In an interview with Daily Mail, Paul Kellam, professor of virus genomics at Imperial College, London, backed Dr Guangfa's claim by explaining how one could catch respiratory infections through the eye.
He explained, "Your eye connects to your nose through the lacrimal duct. If you suffer from allergies and if your eyes run, so will your nose. Or if you put medication in your eyes, you'll taste at the back of your throat."
"It isn't unusual for flu and other viruses to be transmitted this way. You can also get respiratory infections through the eye," he added.
Kellam urged healthcare workers to always wear protective eyeglasses while treating patients because face masks just protect the mouth and nose and "won't protect the eyes."
Guangfa, who is a respiratory specialist at Beijing's Peking University First Hospital, said that he and his team were very "vigilant" and wore "N95 masks" while interacting with patients affected by the coronavirus in Wuhan.
However, when he returned to Beijing, he developed conjunctivitis in his left eye and about three hours later had a fever and severe catarrh, according to Mirror.
Initially, he thought it was flu since he never saw any of the patients in Wuhan suffering from conjunctivitis. But later when he took flu medicine and it didn't work on him, he got himself tested for coronavirus which came out as positive. He then concluded that the virus spread through the eyes.
A total of 41 patients have died from the virus in China, and nearly 1300 confirmed cases have been reported in China alone, which seems to be spreading across the world at an alarming pace. You can read more about the coronavirus here.