A six-month-old child’s eyes turn blue! Doctors believe that it is a rare COVID-19 complication. The study is published in Frontiers in Pediatrics.
The boy was brought to the hospital after developing a cough and fever before an antigen test that confirmed COVID-19. Doctors prescribed him favipiravir, which normally treats influenza. Although evidence suggests the medicine has little positive outcomes with patients with severe, early-stage disease, it is used in Japan and Thailand. However, other research indicates it benefits patients under sixty admitted to the hospital with COVID-19.
The most common side effects of favipiravir are elevated uric acid in the blood. However, eighteen hours into starting the treatment, the child’s mom noticed his eyes turned blue under sunlight.
The doctors noticed “favipiravir has also been shown to cause fluorescence in human hair and nails.”
The team wrote,
This adverse effect may be due to the drug, its metabolites, or additional tablet components such as titanium dioxide and yellow ferric oxide,
Studies have shown that the active phosphorylated metabolite of favipiravir is found in human plasma and that there is a linear correlation between its concentration and the intensity of fluorescence.
Furthermore, more investigations of the drug showed that it was fluorescent under UV light.
Further investigations in the lab showed that the drug was fluorescent under UV light. Moreover, the team also highlights recent concerns of the efficacy and safety of faripivair for COVID-19 treatment.
The team highlights in the report recent concerns around the safety and efficacy of favipiravir in treating COVID-19.
The concluded,
The reported adverse event, although rare, should be taken seriously and closely [monitored] in future cases,
Further studies are needed to determine the incidence of these adverse [effects] and its potential long-term consequences on corneal health.
