A new study showed that "pink eye" may be one of the symptoms experienced by children if they get infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). 

pink eye
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Researchers from Wuhan, China, where the virus was first detected, revealed a new result of their study findings. They said that some of the children who tested positive for the virus might show pink eye symptoms, and parents should be aware of this.

Pediatricians raise concerns over the recent weeks about the surge in the number of children who tested positive for COVID-19. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized this problem and described the children as the silent spreaders of the virus.

Even though most children are asymptomatic, some experienced multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). It is a rare condition that tends to appear in children several weeks after recovering from the virus. 

The study of the "pink eye" symptom was published in the medical journal JAMA Ophthalmology. Researchers examined 216 children between the ages of two and 11 who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Even though most children have the most common symptoms like fevers and coughs, around 22.7 percent of the children under study showed various ocular manifestations. 

The new research found that the most common eye symptom was conjunctival discharge, which was seen in more than half of the children with eye symptoms.

Additionally, children who had other symptoms, like a cough, were more likely to show ocular symptoms, such as conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye.

Dr. Neil Bressler, an ophthalmologist based in Baltimore, Maryland, firmly believed that the study is clinically relevant and could help determine if children have the virus.

"(The study) tells us as ophthalmologists that, if you're seeing children and they have pink eye or other signs of conjunctivitis ... that could be a sign of COVID-19," he said.

However, he also noted that if a child has a pink eye does not necessarily mean that a child has the virus. This was because only 22 percent of the children had the symptom. Thus, it may not need to test the child for the infectious and deadly COVID-19. 

"It's not to the level of 'We need to change the policy and check all children (for pink eye),' but it's important that people realize that this is important. It doesn't necessarily mean that every child that walks in with conjunctivitis should be getting tested for COVID-19," Bressler said.

He also asserted that the only time that the child needs to be tested for COVID-19 if they were exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus and has other symptoms like cough, sore throat, and fever. This is the reason why parents should check their children from time to time. 

Dr. Sonal Tuli, an ophthalmologist based in Gainesville, Florida and a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, also said that even though the "pink eye" symptom is not directly related to COVID-19, parents should still keep children who are displaying signs of conjunctivitis. 

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