Chinese researchers see a link between spectacle wearers and corona infections

These are uncertain times when we do everything we can to keep ourselves safe. Wash your hands as our Prime Minister says, do not cuddle with everyone and do not stop in too busy places. And, it turns out, wearing glasses isn’t a bad idea either.

At least, according to a new study. Scientists at Suizhou Zengdu Hospital in Suizhou, China, are looking to see if eye protection could further reduce the risk of infection. What seems? There is indeed a chance.

Glasses may provide protection

For the study, the team studied 276 people who contracted the coronavirus and ended up in hospital. Only six percent of people who got sick wear glasses for more than eight hours a day, they concluded.

That must of course be set off against the rest of the population. There appears to be a significant difference: 31.5 percent of the population in Hubei – the province where the hospital is located – normally wears glasses. According to the researchers, these figures imply that wearing glasses contributes to a reduction in the risk of becoming infected with COVID-19.

Wear your glasses a lot

The research was published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. “In this study of patients who come from the same area and have been admitted with the COVID-19 virus in Suizhou, it appears that people who wear their glasses for more than eight hours a day have a lower risk of getting infected with the virus than people who don’t wear glasses, ”the scientists write.

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Of course there are always snags to this type of research. Professor of Medicine at John Hopkins University Lisa Maragakis explains that there are some caveats to be made about the new findings. Among other things, it concerns a group of patients from the same hospital and it is a relatively small group that has been studied, says Daily Mirror.

So before you buy trendy glasses because they look so good on you, in the hope that you run less risk as a person without vision impairment, more research needs to be done. Maragakis also warns that it is wise to wear a mask in crowded places, maintain social distance for a while and just still wash your hands in the old-fashioned way.

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