Contact lens & anterior eye : the journal of the British Contact Lens Association
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To investigate the behaviour of contact lens (CL) wearers in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ There is a relationship between the perceived risk of infection and CL dropout during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a tendency to change the CL frequency of wear, with an increase in occasional CL wear. During the ongoing pandemic, eye care practitioners should reinforce CL patient education to minimize the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and CL-related complications requiring clinical care.
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Cont Lens Anterior Eye · Jun 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic: Important considerations for contact lens practitioners.
A novel coronavirus (CoV), the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - 2 (SARS-CoV-2), results in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As information concerning the COVID-19 disease continues to evolve, patients look to their eye care practitioners for accurate eye health guidance. There is currently no evidence to suggest an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 through contact lens (CL) wear compared to spectacle lens wear and no scientific evidence that wearing standard prescription spectacles provides protection against COVID-19 or other viral transmissions. ⋯ Daily CL cleaning and correct case care for reusable CL should be followed according to appropriate guidelines, and CL exposure to water must be avoided. Where the availability of local clinical care is restricted, practitioners could consider advising patients to reduce or eliminate sleeping in their CL (where patients have the appropriate knowledge about correct daily care and access to suitable lens-care products) or consider the option of moving patients to daily disposable lenses (where patients have appropriate lens supplies available). Patients should also avoid touching their face, including their eyes, nose and mouth, with unwashed hands and avoid CL wear altogether if unwell (particularly with any cold or flu-like symptoms).
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Cont Lens Anterior Eye · Jun 2020
Could telehealth help eye care practitioners adapt contact lens services during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated government-imposed restrictions on social interactions and travel. For many, the guidance has led to new ways of working, most notably a shift towards working remotely. While eye care practitioners (ECPs) may continue to provide urgent or emergency eye care, in many cases the travel restrictions present a unique challenge by preventing conventional face-to-face examination. ⋯ The absence of a comprehensive evidence base for teleoptometry limits ECPs, particularly during this pandemic. Knowledge gaps ought to be addressed to facilitate development of optometry specific evidence-based guidance for telecare. In particular, advances in ocular self-imaging could help move this field forwards.
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Cont Lens Anterior Eye · Jun 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey of future use of personal protective equipment in optometric practice.
The aim of this project was to evaluate which personal protective equipment (PPE) eye care practitioners (ECP) will use during the next months and also what they will ask the patient to use in clinical practice. ⋯ In summary, most ECPs planed on continuing to use higher standards of PPE. Those, who intended to wear masks themselves, would ask their patients to also do so, combined with hand disinfection.