A six-month-old baby in Thailand’s eyes turned from brown to blue after being given the COVID-19 antiviral drug favipiravir at a hospital.
“This adverse event has not been previously reported in any pediatric patient. Therefore, our aim was to share our clinical experience of bluish corneal discoloration in a pediatric patient after treatment with favipiravir.
This drug is used to treat various viruses such as influenza and Ebola. This prevents germs from replicating their genetic material. During the pandemic, it was shown to work in treating the symptoms of people infected with the coronavirus.
The baby had a change in the color of his eyes after being given an antiviral. Photo: Chulabhorn Hospital/ Freepik
Doctors documented this child’s case in Frontiers in Pediatrics magazine. In a report, they explained that the child developed a fever and cough and tested positive for COVID-19.
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With this in mind, it was decided to give her pills and a syrup of favipiravir for three days to relieve symptoms.
However, a few hours later, his mother was shocked to see that her baby’s eyes were now deep blue.
The woman quickly rushed him to the hospital, and doctors confirmed that the baby had severe accumulations of blue pigment in both corneas.
“Tablet fluorescence was examined under ultraviolet light and confirmed a strong association between ocular surface fluorescence and favipiravir,” the doctors noted.
Five days after the treatment, the baby’s eye color returned to its natural color. In addition, an ophthalmologist examined the boy a few weeks later and found no vision problems.
A change in eye color is a side effect
This effect was first reported worldwide in December 2021. At the same time, a 20-year-old man also had a change in his eye color while taking favipiravir.
In addition, other patients also reported fluorescent spots on the sclera (white part of the eye), nails and some teeth.
The experts pointed out that this effect could be caused by the way the human body processes favipiravir; Because when it decomposes, it can start releasing fluorescent chemicals.
“Studies have shown that the active phosphorylated metabolite of favipiravir is present in human plasma and that there is a linear relationship between its concentration and fluorescence intensity,” the doctors explained.
