Mumbai: Conjunctivitis cases surge in last two weeks, doctors attribute it to changing weather – The Indian Express

The patients with pink and watery eyes are flocking to the OPDs of hospitals. The government-run JJ hospital in Maharashtra’s Mumbai city has in a single day witnessed 16 cases of conjunctivitis which is much higher than the regular flow of patients.

“Generally, during the weather changes when a new season starts, we do see a rise in the cases of conjunctivitis, but this year the number is higher which is quite concerning,” said Dr Ragini Parekh, the president of Bombay Ophthalmologists Association and head of the department of ophthalmology at JJ Hospital.

Conjunctivitis is extremely contagious which is also referred to as pink eye — an inflammation or infection of the transparent membrane conjunctiva that lines the eyelid and covers the white part of the eyeball. It is commonly caused by a bacterial or viral infection, an allergic reaction.

The doctors also warned against going out with the symptoms of eye-infection that is quite contagious. “If an infected person holds a rod or a doorknob, the others can contract the infection from it. Then it goes around in circles. So, people need to be responsible,” Dr Parekh said.

It is also advised to avoid mingling of the patients with red-eyes in the crowded OPDs which may further spread the infections. Dr Anjali K Rao, ophthalmologist, Sunshine Eye Clinic, said the patients generally recover within a week and the infection does not affect the vision. “In rare cases, we are seeing that the infection is more virulent where patients take nearly two weeks to recover,” Dr Rao said. “The people, who wear contact lenses, need to immediately avoid wearing those if they develop the symptoms,” she added.

Symptoms:

The most common pink eye symptoms include:

• Redness in eyes
• Itchiness
• A gritty feeling in eyes
• Watery discharges in eyes
• Crusting around the eyes
• Swelling of the conjunctiva
• Feeling like a foreign body is in the eye/s