Eclipse related eye injuries are lower than in 1999, hospitals report

The number of people seeking treatment for eye damage after last week’s solar eclipse seems to be lower than after the UK’s last total solar eclipse in 1999, early hospital data show.At its peak the Moon visibly obscured the Sun by at least 90% across the whole of the UK on Wednesday 12 August. This was the deepest partial solar eclipse that the British Isles will see until 2081.1Dozens of people have since visited the UK’s top ophthalmology centres reporting eye problems, figures supplied to The BMJ show. But these early data suggest that the overall number seeking medical help related to the eclipse is lower than 27 years ago.As millions congregated to observe the rare event, public health warnings were widely issued to alert the public to the risks of looking directly at the Sun without sufficient eye protection. Despite the warnings, however, some video clips circulated on social…