Viral and bacterial conjunctivitis

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   Viral and bacterial conjunctivitis can be relieved by warm compress and eye drops or pills are used to treat allergic conjunctivitis. Different types of conjunctivitis have different symptoms and require different treatments.

Bacterial conjunctivitis in adults is always caused by infections such as staphylococcus and streptococcus. In children, the common cause is Haemophilus influenza bacteria. Besides eye cleanser and artificial tears for symptoms relief, your doctor will prescribe standard antibiotics to treat bacterial conjunctivitis. In most cases, antibiotics are enough and sample evaluation is unnecessary.

Newborn babies are at high risk of gonococcal conjunctivitis, which is caused by contacting their mother. This type of conjunctivitis results from sexually transmitted disease on pregnant women, who should be treated with antibiotics to prevent the infection from passing to their children. Some instances of conjunctivitis even occur after several weeks of birth, caused by either birth-related bacteria or pink eye exposure. Once a child is diagnosed with gonococcal conjunctivitis, the most common way is to take an intravenous injection of antibiotics through either veins or muscles. Another treatment is applying silver nitrate and antibiotic ointments to its eye within an hour of birth.

Viral conjunctivitis has symptoms such as watery mucus discharge and eye redness. This type of conjunctivitis mostly spread through respiratory infection, so that children with colds are more likely to be affected. As a result, pink eye epidemics may be aroused among school children through sneezing and coughing. Other reasons that cause viral conjunctivitis include virus-based illness such as measles and mumps. Viral conjunctivitis can not be cured, only treatments for symptom relief are available. Antihistamine is used to relieve eye itchiness and irritation, and vasoconstrictors are used to reduce redness. Steroids are also used to control symptoms and speed recovery, while they may cause cataracts or glaucoma. Most common viral conjunctivitis will go away on its own within several days or weeks.

Allergic conjunctivitis also has various symptoms, including itchiness, stringy mucous discharge and red eye, stuffy and runny nose. People with allergic conjunctivitis can usually get relief from ordinary eye drops, which are helpless for individuals with severe conditions. Serious conjunctivitis should be treated with steroid eye drop medications at the beginning and mast-cell stabilizer for regular use. Due to potential side effects such as cataracts, the use of steroid must be under careful monitor.