A surprising medical situation was recently reported in Thailand. A six-month-old baby’s eyes changed from dark brown to blue after taking an antiviral treatment against Covid-19 called favipiravir. This extremely rare phenomenon has attracted the interest of experts and requires further research to determine the exact cause and possible long-term effects. This case study was presented in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics.
Eyes Turn Blue Credit: Paveewan Jiravisitkul
In their article, the doctors report that the baby was taken to a hospital by his mother because he had developed a high fever and was coughing. After testing positive for Covid-19, he was given favipiravir tablets and a syrup containing the same molecule.
Although a 2022 study by the CEA, INSERM and Université Paris Cité cast doubt on its effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2, the drug is widely used in Thailand and other Asian countries to treat children with Covid-19. Favipiravir acts by preventing the replication of the viral genetic material, inhibiting the spread of the virus in the body. The most common side effects are diarrhea, a drop in white blood cell count and high levels of uric acid in the blood. But the little boy had a particularly rare side effect.
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After just 18 hours of treatment, his eyes began to show an unusual blue color. The doctors who treated the baby noticed an accumulation of blue pigments in both corneas. Five days after the treatment stopped, the strange coloration of the baby’s eyes gradually disappeared. Later, during a follow-up appointment with an ophthalmologist, no eye abnormalities were detected in the child.
References
Jiravisitkul, P., Thonginnetra, S., & Wongvisavavit, R. (2023). Case report: Favipiravir-induced bluish corneal discoloration in infant with COVID-19. Frontiers in Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2023.1154814
Marlin, R., Desjardins, D., Contreras, V. et al. Antiviral efficacy of favipiravir against Zika and SARS-CoV-2 viruses in non-human primates. Nat Commun 13, 5108 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32565-w
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