Abstract
Purpose :
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the development of vaccines, and in Japan, COVID-19 vaccination started in February 2021. In this study, we evaluated the changes in the occurrence of herpetic keratitis after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with comparison to that before COVID-19 period with special reference to the types of keratitis.
Methods :
Patients diagnosed as herpetic keratitis at Dazaifu Yoshitomi Eye Clinic in Dazaifu City, Fukuoka, Japan, were enrolled from March, 2018 to February, 2022. Clinical records were retrospectively reviewed.
Results :
Twenty-three patients (4 males, 19 females) developed herpetic keratitis. The average age (± standard deviation) was 75.0 ± 11.9 years. There was a significant increase in the number of patients of herpetic keratitis among the total number of patients after the start of COVID-19 vaccination than those before COVID-19. All patients received at least 2nd vaccination. The duration after the second vaccination and the onset of herpetic keratitis was 17 days at the shortest and 86 days at the longest, with an average of 41.6 ± 22.2 days. While herpetic keratitis before COVID-19 were all dendritic keratitis, 7 of 14 cases were dendritic keratitis and 7 were stromal herpetic keratitis after the introduction of the vaccination. All cases achieved clinical resolution with acyclovir eye ointment.
Conclusions :
It was suggested that the incidence of herpetic keratitis may have increased after the introduction of vaccination for SARS-CoV-2. Vaccination with RNA vaccine might have some influence in ocular immunity as a clinical change in herpetic keratitis.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.