Viral Conjunctivitis Rates Unchanged Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in an Ophthalmology Clinic

Abstract

Background

Millions of acute conjunctivitis cases occur in the United States annually. The impact of COVID-19 mitigation practices on viral conjunctivitis incidence within ophthalmology clinics has not been reported. We hypothesized that viral conjunctivitis rates would decrease with implementation of such practices.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was conducted at a single academic center’s ophthalmology clinics. Electronic health record data was queried using ICD-10 diagnostic codes to include 649 patients aged 2–97 with viral, bacterial, or allergic conjunctivitis diagnosed either before (6/1/2018–5/1/2019) or during (6/1/2020–5/1/2021) COVID-19 precautions. Conjunctivitis rates per ophthalmology clinic visit were compared using rate-ratio analysis. Logistic regression evaluated the effects of age, sex, and race among those with conjunctivitis.

Results

A total of 66,027 ophthalmology clinic visits occurred during the study period. Viral conjunctivitis rates per visit did not significantly change after enacting COVID-19 mitigation strategies, but allergic conjunctivitis rates significantly increased (viral: RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.31, p=0.408; allergic: RR 1.70, 95% CI 1.43 to 2.03, p<0.001). When controlling for time, younger age (≤ median age 55) (p=0.005) and Caucasian race (p=0.009) were associated with higher viral conjunctivitis frequency.

Conclusion

Contrary to trends reported in emergency departments, viral conjunctivitis rates within an ophthalmology clinic did not significantly change after COVID-19 mitigation strategies, though allergic conjunctivitis rates increased. Patients’ avoidance of emergency departments during the pandemic may have contributed. Further investigation is required to explore variation in ophthalmology patient populations and needs based on care setting.

Plain Language Summary

A retrospective review included 649 patients with viral, bacterial, or allergic conjunctivitis diagnosed at a single center’s ophthalmology clinics before (6/1/2018–5/1/2019) or during (6/1/2020–5/1/2021) COVID-19 precautions. Contrary to emergency department experiences, viral conjunctivitis rates did not significantly change after COVID-19 precautions. However, allergic conjunctivitis rates significantly increased. Conjunctivitis presentation in ophthalmology clinics differed from that reported in emergency departments, warranting further evaluation of variation in patient needs by setting.

Keywords:

• viral conjunctivitis
• allergic conjunctivitis
• conjunctivitis transmission
• COVID-19
• COVID-19 precautions

Role of Funder/Sponsor

None of the sources of funding support had any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Ethics Approval and Informed Consent

This work was approved by the local ethics committee of the University of Minnesota and followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki to involve no greater than minimal risk to subjects and thus meet waiver from the informed consent process.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grant UL1-TR002494. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.