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Indian Journal of Ophthalmology logoLink to Indian Journal of Ophthalmology
. 2022 Feb;70(2):705–706. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2942_21

Response to comment on: Central retinal vein occlusion secondary to varicella-zoster retinal vasculitis in an immunocompetent individual during the COVID-19 pandemic - A case report

Yogish Subraya Kamath 1,, Neenu Mariam George 1, Shailaja Sarpangala 1, Chidanand Kulkarni 1
PMCID: PMC9023959  PMID: 35086285

Dear Editor,

We thank the authors for their valuable observations and providing us an opportunity for clarifying our case report further.[1]

In our report, we mentioned the occurrence of the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it presented in the month of November 2020, when our area was just recovering from the first wave.[2] As our hospital was a tertiary care center and a COVID-19 care nodal hospital in our district, during that period, all patients were screened for symptoms of COVID-19 including fever. Our case had denied any symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) and was afebrile on presentation. Due to reports of subclinical COVID-19 infection increasing susceptibility to other viral diseases, as well as retinal vascular occlusions, we felt that our case too, being young, may have been an asymptomatic carrier.[3] In the absence of history of travel, contact with a positive case or ILI, the prevailing COVID-19 testing regulations during that period restricted us from performing either a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test, rapid antigen test or serology, despite all the facilities being available in our hospital.[4]

We agree with the comment of COVID-19 vaccination leading to vascular thrombosis. However, it was not applicable in our case as the vaccination in our country was started only after January 2021, much after his presentation to us.[5]

The patient also underwent an evaluation by the physician for his elevated serum homocysteine levels, and is on appropriate vitamin supplementation for the same.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

  • 1.Gurnani B, Kaur K. Comment on:Central retinal vein occlusion secondary to varicella-zoster retinal vasculitis in an immunocompetent individual during the COVID-19 pandemic - A case report. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2022;70:704–5. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2800_21. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Sarpangala S, George NM, Kamath YS, Kulkarni C. Central retinal vein occlusion secondary to varicella zoster retinal vasculitis in an immunocompetent individual during the COVID-19 pandemic - A case report. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021;69:2532–5. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1644_21. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
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  • 4.Indian Council of Medical Research Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Advisory on strategy for COVID-19 testing in India (version VI, 4th September 2020) Government of India. [[Last accessed on 2021 Nov 21]]. Available from: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/AdvisoryonstrategyforCOVID19TestinginIndia.pdf .
  • 5.Choudhary OP, Choudhary P, Singh I. India's COVID-19 vaccination drive:Key challenges and resolutions. Lancet Infect Dis. 2021;21:1483–4. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00567-3. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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