Post Vitrectomy Endophthalmitis related to wearing of face mask on the rise during COVID-19 pandemic

A recent study found that there was an increased incidence of Endophthalmitis after Vitrectomy during the COVID-19 face mask wearing period. The study was published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, 2022.

With the worldwide spread of the COVID 19 pandemic, wearing a face mask was made mandatory to reduce the spread of droplet infection. It was recently found that when worn inappropriately, face masks can cause Infectious Keratitis due to the air carrying the oral flora bacteria from inside the mask to the eye. Researchers from Japan conducted a study to determine the incidence and causative pathogens of endophthalmitis after Vitrectomy during the strict face mask-wearing COVID-19 period.

A retrospective multicentre study including 31 ophthalmological institutions of the Japanese Retina and Vitreous Society or Japan-Clinical Retina Study group was conducted. Subjects who underwent vitrectomy during 2019, the pre-COVID-19 period, and from July 2020 to June 2021, the COVID-mask period, were included. Cataract surgery results were used as a control in the study. The total number of vitrectomies and the total number of postoperative endophthalmitis were determined and also the differences in the incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis between the pre-COVID-19 period and the COVID-mask period were studied. The type of pathogens causing the endophthalmitis were also studied.