Conjunctivitis is an inflammation or infection of the transparent membrane (conjunctiva) that covers the white part of your eyeball. It may be allergic, or infective.
The blood vessels of the surface of the eye dilate giving the eye a flushed, pink or red appearance. This may be caused by a bacterial or viral infection, or an allergic reaction. In this section, we will be dealing with the infective conjunctivitis, or pink eye, which is also known as eye flu.
Infective conjunctivitis can be contagious, and care must be taken to help limit its spread.
Symptoms:
- Redness of eyes
- Swelling or boggy appearance of conjunctiva and eyelids
- Gritty feeling in the eye, discomfort
- Watering and copius discharge
- Transient blurring of vision
Management
- Strict hand hygiene, always clean hands after touching your face or cleaning the eyes
- Do not wear contact lenses until your eye doctor permits you to
- Do not share towels, pillows, eye makeup
- Topical tear supplements: Usually preservative free eyedrops that keep the eyes lubricated help increase patient comfort
- NSAIDS or Non steroidal anti-inflammatory agents: Help by decreasing the inflammation caused by the infection, and ease discomfort
- Disease specific antibiotic or antiviral agents: if required. Soemtimes doctors prescribe a broad spectrum antibiotic even for viral conjunctivitis to prevent a super added infection, especially if the patient is diabetic or immunocompromised