French researchers are warning of a pint-sized COVID-19 fallout, with a seven-fold increase in ocular injuries due to hand sanitiser being accidentally squirted in children’s eyes.

A paediatric ophthalmology centre has also reported a steep rise in admissions due to alcohol-based hand sanitiser, including a number of children who needed surgery for severe lesions after exposure. 

“The paediatric specificity of this outbreak is most likely owing to the emplacement of the gel dispenser in the proximity of children’s faces,” the researchers wrote in JAMA Ophthalmology.

“These devices are usually around 1m in height, delivering alcohol-based hand sanitiser at the level of small children’s eyes.