Dear Readers,

'Dolly' from Independence City, Portmore, shares with Lifeline her worry about pink-eye. Her neighbours' children have all gone down with the ailment. Her four-year-old son has pink-eye and her mother, who babysits her children, has also contracted it.

She obtained eye drops from her doctor for her son and mother. However, she is worried that she might have pink-eye also.

Dolly is asking Lifeline how to stop the pink-eye from spreading. She also asks if once treated, can they get pink-eye again. Dolly is headed back to the doctor but would like to hear from Lifeline so that she can share any advise with her neighbours.

Pink-eye refers to an inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the clear membrane that covers the eyeball and lines the inner eyelid.

Pink-eye can be caused by viral or bacterial infections or can even occur secondary to trauma, injury or irritation to the eye. For example, as a reaction to smoke or to a foreign body in the eye.

Most of the time, pink-eye is due to a viral infection of the conjunctiva, which can be transmitted from one person to the other, or from a moist contaminated surface which one's hands have come into contact with, then into one's eye when the eye is rubbed or touched.

Even a hand rail, in a bus or a desk surface at school, could be contaminated. For this reason, during an outbreak of pink-eye, crowded, close and confined environments should be avoided.

Persons with pink-eye and others, who live with them, should practise proper hygiene by regularly washing hands if they come in contact with each other. The individual with viral conjunctivitis (pink-eye) should remain home from work or school, for at least five days to a week, and stave off close or intimate contact with others during that time. If this is not adhered to, it is likely that other individuals will contract the virus and spread it.

Persons should suspect pink-eye if the white of the eye becomes pink or red. The eye will usually burn, itch or hurt and a yellowish eye discharge may occur. The eyelid might also swell. Viral conjunctivitis usually lasts from five to seven days. Once the eye seems pinkish, warm water compresses should be applied, several times daily, and the eye washed in warm water after the compresses are removed.

Cleanliness is the key

Clean cloth should be used each time and washed after use, with bleach added if possible. The hands should be washed before and after treating the eye. If the condition does not improve, in a day or two, a physician should be seen. Although the infection is viral, antibiotic eye drops or ointment are prescribed to prevent secondary infection to the eye, which can prolong the condition. The doctor may also prescribe soothing eye drops for use before instilling the antibiotic eye preparation, and a pain killer might also be necessary. Panadol, Tylenol and other over-the-counter preparations will often suffice.

Eye drops, ideally, should not be shared as the infected person's eyelashes or even the eye surface may come in contact with the bottle or tube with the medication. In this manner, the virus can actually be spread by the container if it is used on another person's eye. Towels, rags and pillows should not be shared for the same reason.

Because more than one virus can be responsible for pink-eye it is possible to be reinfected, meaning patients can suffer the disorder more than once. Because of this, no one is immune from pink-eye, and by quarantine measures, supplemented with proper standards of hygiene and medication, are very important in the control of the spread of the pink-eye infection.

Write to:

Lifeline

PO Box 1731

Kgn 8

AJM