Ocular Pathology: Role of Emerging Viruses in the Asia-Pacific RegionVA Review

The role of viral infections in ocular pathology varies greatly, involving all the components of the eye. Some viruses like herpes simplex, herpes zoster, adenovirus, enterovirus 70, influenza virus, human immunodeficiency virus, and cytomegalovirus are well-known for their role in ocular pathology. In recent years, emerging and resurging viral infections represent an important public health problem. The Asia-Pacific region has witnessed a number of pandemic and epidemic outbreaks caused by these viruses during the last 2 decades. The number of ocular complications being reported in patients of these viral infections has also increased significantly during this period. Ophthalmologists and physicians should be aware of ocular manifestations of newly emerging or resurging viral diseases. We conducted a review of the literature published during the last 20 years with the objectives of finding out outbreaks of emerging and reemerging viruses in the Asia-Pacific region and finding out any ocular involvement in these viral infections. An iterative search of the MEDLINE and the Google databases was made using the search terms emerging virus, ocular manifestations, ocular complications, Chikungunya, Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile fever, Kyasanur forest disease, Rift valley fever, Hantavirus, Henipavirus, Influenza virus, Enterovirus 71, and Asia-Pacific region, separately and with reported ocular involvement in combination. This review article discusses the epidemiology and the systemic and ocular manifestations of all emerging viral infections with reported ocular involvement in the Asia-Pacific region.