Viral Conjunctivitis Rates Unchanged Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in an Ophthalmology Clinic

Millions of acute conjunctivitis cases occur in the United States annually. The impact of COVID-19 mitigation practices on viral conjunctivitis incidence within ophthalmology clinics has not been reported. We hypothesized that viral conjunctivitis rates would decrease with implementation of such practices. A retrospective chart review was conducted at a single academic center's ophthalmology clinics. Electronic health record data was queried using ICD-10 diagnostic codes to include 649 patients aged 2-97 with viral, bacterial, or allergic conjunctivitis diagnosed either before (6/1/2018-5/1/2019) or during (6/1/2020-5/1/2021) COVID-19 precautions. Conjunctivitis rates per ophthalmology clinic visit were compared using rate-ratio analysis. Logistic regression evaluated the effects of age, sex, and race among those with conjunctivitis. A total of 66,027 ophthalmology clinic visits occurred during the study period. Viral conjunctivitis rates per visit did not significantly change after enacting COVID-19 mitigation strategies, but allergic conjunctivitis rates significantly increased (viral: RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.31, p=0.408; allergic: RR 1.70, 95% CI 1.43 to 2.03, p