Leading experts have reported that there is currently no evidence to suggest an increased risk of contracting Covid-19 through contact lens wear compared to spectacle lens wear – and that there is no scientific evidence that wearing standard prescription spectacles provides protection against Covid-19 or other viral transmissions.
Writing in Contact Lens & Anterior Eye (CLAE) (Lyndon Jones, et al, Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2020.03.012), the journal of the British Contact Lens Association, Professor Lyndon Jones and colleagues conclude that, to date, there is no evidence to suggest that contact lens wearers who are asymptomatic should cease contact lens wear due to an increased risk of developing Covid-19 and that wearing prescription spectacles provides protection against SARS-CoV-2 or that any one form of contact lens material is more likely to enhance or reduce the risk of future Covid-19 infection.
However, they add that information concerning the novel coronavirus is evolving at a rapid rate and advise eyecare practitioners to remain attentive to new findings as they emerge.
“Practitioners must remain vigilant about reminding contact lens wearers of the need to maintain good hand hygiene practices when handling lenses,” the authors conclude. “A focus on fully compliant contact lens wear and especially on the modifiable risk factors associated with contact lens complications are especially important during the height of the pandemic, where access to primary and secondary optometric care may be substantially different to normal, and practitioners should act to minimise the burden on the wider healthcare system by considering their local clinical pathway options.
“Patients must be reminded of the need to dispose of daily disposable lenses upon removal, the need for appropriate disinfection with reusable lenses, including the use of a rub-and-rinse step where indicated, and appropriate case cleaning and replacement.
“Finally, consistent with guidance for other types of illness, particularly those of the respiratory tract, no contact lens wearer with active Covid-19 should remain wearing their contact lenses. This is the time to cease contact lens wear and revert to spectacles.”
Read the article in full on the CLAE website here.
Read more on the subject – ‘Covid-19 and contact lens wear’ by Iain Johnson – here.