Cornea appears to resist infection from novel coronavirus

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Other viruses, such as Zika and herpes simplex, replicate in corneal tissue

November 3, 2020

Cornea Corneal Conditions Infectious Disease

Basic Research

Grantee

New findings from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest the eye’s cornea can resist infection from the novel coronavirus. Although the herpes simplex virus can infect the cornea and spread to other parts of the body in patients with compromised immune systems, and Zika virus has been found in tears and corneal tissue, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, does not appear to replicate in the human cornea.

The researchers have yet to determine, however, whether other tissue in and around the cornea, such as the tear ducts and the conjunctiva, are vulnerable to the virus.