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Conjunctivitis on rise due to erratic weather
Doctors said the infection is seen among all age groups and cases have gone up by 20 per week as compared to two to three in the previous weeks
Variations in weather condition amid continuous rainfall coupled with high day temperature and humidity have caused a rise in cases of conjunctivitis, also referred as “pink eye”, according to private city doctors.
Doctors said the infection is seen among all age groups and cases have gone up by 20 per week as compared to two to three in the previous weeks.
“The condition is usually prevalent during summer and spring seasons due to increased amount of pollen in the air. However, these days, there has been an increase in number of ‘pink eye’ cases due to increased amount of pollution and sudden change in environment. Even in a closed environment, there is lack of air circulation in room and if a patient is already suffering from conjunctivitis, they may infect others,” said Dr Kirti Dharmadhikari, consultant ophthalmology at Manipal Hospitals, Baner.
Although the infection does not spread through air, people who suffer from the condition may rub their eye and touch others causing the virus to spread, according to doctors.
“It is mostly common among children as they are unaware about maintaining hygiene while suffering from this condition. However, ‘pink eye’ can also spread among people of all age groups as the infected person can come in contact with others. If a person is suffering from this condition, they must avoid touching others to stop the spread and also cover their eyes at all times. This will allow them to avoid touching their eyes on a frequent basis,” said Dr Dharmadhikari.
Another doctor noted that cases seen in Pune are mostly of infectious conjunctivitis than allergic with infection lasting for more days among children due to lack of proper case unlike adults.
Anita Salve, mother of a six-year-old Parth, said that her son was cured of infection after a week.
“It is difficult to manage children during this time as they are active. Despite several attempts to keep the child isolated, I also got infected. Putting eye drops is also difficult in case of children,” said Salve.
Doctors noted that patients must also use disposable tissues to wipe their eyes rather than a handkerchief as it may soak infection and spread to another eye.
“Although the symptoms and treatment options depend on the type of conjunctivitis, people must pay attention to some common initial symptoms like frequent irritation along with redness, swelling and discharge from infected eye,” said Dr Dharmadhikari.
City-based eye surgeon Dr Chitra Sambhare said treatment depends on the type of conjunctivitis.
“During this season, we have treated at least 10 patients every week. There are different types of conjunctivitis. And in case of bacterial conjunctivitis, patients are given antibacterial antibiotic eye drops while in the case of allergic conjunctivitis, patients are given antiallergic or some lubricating drops. In the case of viral conjunctivitis, a patient usually takes their own time to heal and they must be given treatment based on symptoms,” said Dr Sambhare.
She cautioned that patients should pay more heed to allergic conjunctivitis and avoid taking over-the-counter drops.
“We have seen that in many cases patients self-medicate, especially in the case of allergic conjunctivitis. This can cause added complications and may lead to loss of vision. Hence, patients should seek doctor’s opinion,” said Dr Sambhare.
