I’ve been wearing glasses for 34 years, since long before Dr. Fauci’s July suggestion that goggling up may prevent the spread of coronavirus. I got used to them pretty quickly when I was a kid and now hardly think about them… although people at work say my glasses help them recognize me among all of us mask wearers.
But now some Chinese researchers say they found a surprising dearth of wearers of eyeglasses among covid-19 patients admitted to one hospital in Wuhan, China:
A total of 276 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled. Of these, 155 (56.2%) were male, and the median age was 51 (interquartile range, 41-58) years. All those who wore glasses for more than 8 hours a day had myopia and included 16 of 276 patients (5.8%; 95% CI, 3.04%-8.55%). The proportion of people with myopia in Hubei province, based on a previous study, was 31.5%, which was much higher than the proportion of patients with COVID-19 who had myopia in this sample [Weibiao Zeng, Xiaolin Wang, Junyu Li, et al., “Association of Daily Wear of Eyeglasses with Susceptibility to Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection,” JAMA Ophthalmology, 2020.09.16].
One location, small hospital—don’t bet the farm yet. But this research from Wuhan is one more indication that these things we put on our faces, things that at first we might consider annoying and inconvenient but which pretty soon we hardly notice and just make a part of our daily routine, can do some easy good for ourselves and our neighbors.
It makes sense. The clinic where my wife goes, not only have masks but also have safety glasses even if they wear face shields. My wife wears glasses and I have worn safety glasses since March.
The virus looks for a way in and the eyes are wide open.
I have read that eyes are an entry point too. Hadn’t thought of eyeglasses as being that protective, but perhaps they are.
It seems odd to the scientist in me, although grudznick is not a professional etiologist or conjuctivist, that the covid bugs would be repelled better by people with misshapen eyeballs. Spectacle wearers, by and large, tend to do more eye rubbing and touching of their faces than non-glasses wearers. You see them prop up the shade on their head and then rub their eyes. Or put the ear piece in their mouth and scowl at you when they want to cow down those who disagree. The studies would seem to conflict.
If you get the virus, once recovered, do you still wear the mask?
Mr. Dale, that is a very good question. I would love to discuss it with you at the Brewery of Crows or the Steerfish joint, if I can get a ride up there.
My thought is that the Science says no, you should not be burdened with a mask, but the social shaming of the mask shaming world will want you to wear one. If you get the tattoo, on your forehead, which is endorsed by the government, then no, you should be able to eat at the Steerfish without having to sport a mask.
Do you think we would argue about masks, or about the 5 Gs, and the cause of the covid bugs when grudznick buys your dinner?