A Chinese doctor has sparked a whole new set of fears as he claimed he contracted the deadly coronavirus through eyes because he wasn’t wearing protective goggles.
As Wang Guangfa said, he fears that the virus got to him after he was exposed to patients without wearing protective goggles.
Unfortunately, medical experts around the world have confirmed that such a case, indeed, is possible.
As leading scientists pointed out, the virus, which has already resulted in over one thousand confirmed cases and dozens of deaths, could be transferred to a healthy person exposed to an infected individual through coughing or sneezing.
“If you have droplets sneezed at you, they will wash from your nose to your eye. Your eye connects to your nose through the lacrimal duct,” professor Paul Kellam of the Imperial College London said in an interview with MailOnline.
“If you suffer from allergies and if your eyes run, so will your nose. Or if you put medication in your eyes, you’ll taste at the back of your throat.
“It isn’t unusual for flu and other viruses to be transmitted this way. You can also get respiratory infections through the eye.”
As the professor added, it is vital for healthcare professionals dealing with these cases to wear protective eyewear at all times.
Backing up the professor’s claim was also a senior researcher of the University of Southampton, Dr. Michael Head.
“Transmission would potentially be by touching the eye so the virus is on the hand, which then makes it easy to spread from one person to another,” he said in an interview with MailOnline.
“Think of it like the common cold or the flu, touching nose/mouth/eyes is a way to spread them.”
What are your thoughts on this update? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to SHARE this post with your family and friends and follow us on Facebook for more news and stories!
Replaced!