Precautions against conjunctivitis stressed

LAHORE:The conjunctivitis disease is increasing day by day, and if precautions are not taken, it may turn into an epidemic.

“Although conjunctivitis is not usually vision-threatening, caution is warranted,” says Dr Masood Sheikh, President of the General Cadre Doctors Association, while addressing a public seminar on conjunctivitis at a hospital here on Sunday. He said that this disease is usually spread by a cold or a similar virus. The symptoms include redness in one or both eyes and a feeling of stinging, watery eyes. If the patient's symptoms do not improve in three days, or if the eye hurts, the light and sunlight seem bad, or the vision starts to blur, then contact your doctor immediately, otherwise the vision may be affected.

Dr Masood Sheikh said that the patient is contagious so precautions must be taken to prevent spread. The discharge from the eyes contains viruses or bacteria that can spread disease. Dr Sagheer Baloch said that patients should avoid touching their eyes. Separate patient's towels, handkerchiefs, pillowcases, etc. and these should not be used by a healthy person. Traditional remedies like Cold water splashes on the eyes, and others may be helpful in this disease. Dr Ghulam Farid and Dr Munir Ghori added that to prevent the disease, it is important to clean the hands frequently and not to use the patient's towel or pillow. Women should not share eye cosmetics while suffering from this disease. And don't use someone else's contact lenses. Dr Rana Rafiq and Dr M Shehbaz emphasised that if this disease is treated early, the possible damage to the eye can be avoided. In addition to redness in the eyes, children may also have nasal congestion and watery discharge, but for these reasons alone the children should not be kept at home. In some cases, allergies or blockage of the tear duct in young children can also cause the disease.