PurposeTo report the ocular characteristics and the presence of viral RNA of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in conjunctival swab specimens in a patient with confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).Participant and methodsA 30-year-old man with confirmed COVID-19 and bilateral acute conjunctivitis which occurred 13 days after illness onset. Based on detailed ophthalmic examination, reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) was performed to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus in conjunctival swabs. The ocular characteristics, presence of viral RNA and viral dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in the conjunctival specimens were evaluated.ResultsSlit lamp examination showed bilateral acute follicular conjunctivitis. RT-PCR assay demonstrated the presence of viral RNA in conjunctival specimen 13 days after onset (cycle threshold value: 31). The conjunctival swab specimens remained positive for SARS-CoV-2 on 14 and 17 days after onset. On day 19, RT-PCR result was negative for SARS-CoV-2.ConclusionSARS-CoV-2 is capable of causing ocular complications such as viral conjunctivitis in the middle phase of illness. Precautionary measures are recommended when examining infected patients throughout the clinical course of the infection. However, conjunctival sampling might not be useful for early diagnosis because the virus may not appear initially in the conjunctiva.

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N 6 -methyladenine (m 6 A), one of the most common chemical modifications of eukaryotic RNA, participates in many important biological processes. An effective strategy for the quantitative determination of m 6 A is of great significance. Herein, we used methylated microRNA-21 (miRNA21) as the model target to propose a simple and sensitive electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) biosensing platform to detect a specific m 6 A RNA sequence. This strategy is based on the fact that the anti-m 6 A-antibody can specifically recognize and bind to the m 6 A site in the RNA sequence, resulting in a quenching effect between Ru(bpy) 3 2+ -functionalized metal−organic frameworks and ferrocene. Luminescent metal−organic frameworks (Ru@MOFs) not only act as ECL indicators but also serve as nanoreactors for the relative ECL reactions owing to their porous or multichannel structure, which overcomes the fact that Ru(bpy) 3 2+ is easily released when used for aqueous-phase detection, thus enhancing the ECL efficiency. Moreover, the ECL method has fewer modification steps and uses only one antibody to recognize the target RNA sequence, which simplifies the operation process and reduces the detection time, presenting a wide linear range (0.001−10 nM) for m 6 A RNA determination with a low detection limit (0.0003 nM). Additionally, this developed strategy was validated for m 6 A RNA detection in human serum. Thus, the ECL biosensing method provides a new method for m 6 A RNA determination that is simple, highly specific, and sensitive. N 6 -Methyladenosine (m 6 A) has been identified as one of

ObjectivesTo evaluate myopia development among primary and secondary school students during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the development of myopia among students in Shenzhen, China during the COVID-19 outbreak.ResultsThe study included 1,472,957 and 1,573,824 students in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The prevalence of myopia was 46.9 and 50.5% in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The prevalence of myopia among students in the former Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was higher than that in areas outside the former Shenzhen SEZ (2019: 47.0 vs. 43.7%; 2020: 50.5 vs. 47.3%). The prevalence of myopia among girls was higher than that among boys (2019: 50.4 vs. 44.0%; 2020: 54.0 vs. 47.6%). The 50th percentile (P50) of spherical equivalent refraction (SER) in the right eye among girls was lower than that in boys. The prevalence of myopia continued to increase as the grade increased, with the greatest annual increase observed in Grades 2–5 (3.4–3.9%). The P50 of SER in the right eye of students decreased as the grade increased.ConclusionsThe prevalence of myopia among students increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in primary school Grades 2–5.