A 9-year-old UK boy nearly lost his sight after contracting COVID-eye, which is an apparent side effect of coronavirus.
Zac Morey experienced flu-like symptoms of COVID after testing positive on Dec. 16. He spent quarantine at home when his mom, Angela. However, she noticed something was very wrong with his eye. After testing negative, Dec. 22, his eye started bulging from his socket.
His mom said, “His eye looked like it was going to explode.” Angela drove her son to the hospital, where they told them he had developed a symptom from the virus. Apparently, Morey had suffered from orbital cellulitis, an inflammatory ailment that’s been linked to the coronavirus.
According to an April 2021 case study, it’s “indeterminate that COVID-19 is coincidental or a predisposing factor to this presentation” of orbital cellulitis.
The doctors say it’s an allergic reaction some children have to the virus. Fortunately, Morey’s swollen eye went down soon after doctors provided antibiotics via an IV drip over the next couple of days. Though Morey spent Christmas Eve and Day at the hospital, he was able to go home on Dec. 26 and had his sight back!
NYC Posts explains this isn’t the first time a severely swollen eye has been linked to COVID. “In an alarming study from February, French scientists documented so-called nodules in the eyes of patients battling severe COVID-19.”
Morey wasn’t the only one in his family infected with COVID. His four other siblings and mom had it. However, he was the only one with the severe reaction.
