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Conjunctivitis cases spread to adults in Pune
On average out of the daily 100 cases of conjunctivitis confirmed since last week, 55 to 60 per cent are now adults, said, Dr Sanjay Patil, chairman hospital board of India (HBI), Pune chapter
PUNE: As per recent reports, the conjunctivitis outbreak has spread from children to adults in Pune city, with the majority of the new patients infected now being adults. Although the infection rate has declined amongst children, entire families are now reportedly getting infected with pink eyes, said doctors.
Following an outbreak in Alandi in July, the infection was later reported in children from Pune and other districts of the state. An advisory was issued by the Maharashtra State Public Health Department on July 21, suggesting conducting screening of school children in areas that witnessed eye flu outbreaks.
“While the students were mostly affected for a couple of weeks, now the eye infections are spreading from these children to their parents and other family members at home. On average out of the daily 100 cases of conjunctivitis confirmed since last week, 55 to 60 per cent are now adults, said, Dr Sanjay Patil, chairman hospital board of India (HBI), Pune chapter.
Dr Patil, who is also an eye expert, said entire families including the elderly, are reportedly getting infected.
“We have also witnessed infections in the working population and IT employees. Apart from the patients visiting the Out Patients Department (OPD), a huge number of patients are taking consultations through TeleMedicine for eye flu. However, the recovery takes five to six days and patients with severe symptoms are meagre,” he said.
As per the Public health department data, Maharashtra has reported 3.99 lakh conjunctivitis cases. Pune district has 47,540 cases, the highest number of cases followed by Buldhana at 44,398 cases. Out of the 47,540 cases reported in the Pune district, 32,462 cases are reported in Pune rural, 8,357 in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, and 6,721 cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) areas.
Dr Kailas Baviskar, deputy director of health services, said, the surge in cases is reported due to adenovirus, the group of viruses that causes the common cold and other upper respiratory infections.
“The cases are reported across the state, and we urge citizens to follow good hygiene. Individuals with conjunctivitis infection should get isolated at home and take rest,” he said.
Dr Bhagwan Pawar, health officer of PMC, said as a preventive measure, screening of school children has been started in the city. “The screening has been started as most of the cases were reported in children. However, now we have witnessed a surge in eye flu cases amongst adults,” he said.
