COVID-19 hazard- Hand Sanitizer induced Ocular Injury reported in JAMA

The study is published in the JAMA Ophthalmology.

Hand hygiene is central to the prevention of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The current literature illustrates the potential threat to skin and mucosal surfaces, especially the eyes, with use of alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs). As frequent hand sanitization is promoted worldwide because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, there have been reports of adverse health events due to ingestion of hand sanitizer by children.

Therefore, the authors studied a series of two case reports of toxic keratopathy in children after unintentional contact between ABHR and the eye, suggesting that increased awareness of this potential danger is needed.

In the first case study, a 4-year-old girl was brought by her parents with unintentional exposure of hand sanitizer to her right eye a day prior to examination. According to her parents, the child was attempting to use a sanitizer dispenser installed on a floor stand at a shop. Copious irrigation with balanced salt solution was performed in the operating room. Oral and topical medications were then initiated, including eye drops with moxifloxacin, 0.5%, twice hourly; eye drops with betamethasone, 0.5%, 6 times a day; carboxy methyl cellulose, 1%, hourly; homatropine, 1%, 2 times a day; timolol, 0.5%, 2 times a day; eye drops of vitamin C, 10%, 4 times a day; doxycycline, 100 mg, once daily; and vitamin C, 250 mg, once a day.