In a shocking incident, a six-month-old baby’s dark brown eyes turned deep blue after receiving a COVID-19 medicine. This unusual medical side-effect has shocked everyone.
The baby boy hails from Thailand and he was diagnosed with COVID-19 after suffering from a fever and a cough for a day. Reportedly, he was prescribed favipiravir, an antiviral medication, for 3 days and consequently, it helped in improving the COVID-19 symptoms.
However, 18 hours after taking the medicine, the child’s mother noticed a change in her baby’s eye colour, which changed from dark brown to bright blue. The bizarre case has been published in the medical journal Frontiers in Paediatrics.
Following this, the doctors immediately stopped giving favipiravir to the baby. However, the baby’s eye changed back to its original colour after almost five days.
“No bluish discoloration was observed in other areas such as skin, nails, or oral and nasal mucosa. Symptoms improved after 3 days of favipiravir therapy. The paediatrician advised that the patient discontinue therapy because of favipiravir-induced corneal discoloration. The cornea returned to normal colour on Day 5 after stopping the medicine,” the authors of the medical report said as quoted by several media outlets.
Last year, favipiravir was approved by the Thai Ministry of Public Health and it is intended for children experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19.
The doctors revealed in the study that “this case report highlights an unusual adverse effect of favipiravir therapy in the youngest known patient receiving the drug for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. While favipiravir is currently the mainstay of oral antiviral treatment for children with COVID-19, its safety profile in children who are still in the developmental stage is uncertain.”
