Bacteria Conjunctivitis
Hello Guys,
How are we all doing today? It is the beginning of another beautiful and glorious week and I do hope your week has already started to be fruitful. I am happy to have this opportunity to come once again come your way with some ocular health lessons and I do hope that as usual, you enjoy it.
For today we are going to talk about an inflammatory condition of the part of the eye called the conjunctiva which is caused by bacterial infection. It is one of the most common conditions you would find in a Ghanaian hospital or Ghanaian eye clinic and now that we are entering the dry season a possible epidemic may be waiting to rear its ugly head.
Bacteria Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis generally is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the transparent membrane that covers the white part of the eye when one looks directly into the eye of another. It is caused by many factors including viruses, bacteria, protozoans, fungi, and other environmental factors. The condition is known as pink eye irrespective of the causative organism and it's normally a result of the redness or the eye that comes with it.
Bacteria Conjunctivitis just as its name suggests is an inflammation of the conjunctiva caused by a bacterial infection. This may range from gram-negative to gram-positive and the commonly known causative species include staph. aureus, Neisseria gonorrhoea, strep. pneumonia etc.
The condition is characterized by pain of the eye, redness of the eye which gives its name the pink eye and discharges from the eye ranging from purulent to mucopurulent. You may notice this discharge every morning when you wake up and it can most often cause the eye to close such that you find it hard to open in the morning unless you wash or use a face cloth.
In kids, it may present with swelling of the lids which can sometimes be scary for the parent as the child may also cry a whole lot as a result of the pain they may be experiencing. Bacterial conjunctivitis is very contagious and could easily spread through a group of children playing together when one gets the infection. This is one of the reasons why it can easily become an epidemic within an area or community.
Management
The eye has a lot of mechanisms in place to help it fight some of these infections and it's the result of the eye's fight that also results in lots of discharge in bacterial infections of the eye. And so your Optometrist or Ophthalmologist may give you some antibiotic eye drops to help the system be able to combat the microbes even better and hopefully win the battle or war whichever way you prefer to see it.
Ointments are good for the condition and help out with the fight, especially during the nighttime that we sleep. Its property also helps it to stay longer on the eye and so your OD may recommend this in addition to your drops that way you get to fight the battle day and night till victory is assured.
If need be then your OD may add up some steroid drops to help combat the accompanying pain and inflammations to help relieve the patient and also help things get better. Your OD may however tweak these in any way he sees fit after examining the eye to know what's best for you. And so you must report to your specialist as soon as you notice some of these symptoms described here.
Conclusion
Remember that in all situations and with all conditions early diagnosis is the key to better management and a good prognosis. It is also advisable to avoid over-the-counter medications till things get worse. Remember that you only have one chance at sight and that sight loss is hardly ever reversible.
I do hope that my share today got someone impacted in one way or the other. Many thanks for the opportunity once again, I am truly grateful to you for reading. Thanks for your time.
Rerefences
Epling, J., & Smucny, J. (2005). Bacterial conjunctivitis. Clinical evidence, (14), 756–761.
Leung, A., Hon, K. L., Wong, A., & Wong, A. S. (2018). Bacterial Conjunctivitis in Childhood: Etiology, Clinical Manifestations, Diagnosis, and Management. Recent patents on inflammation & allergy drug discovery, 12(2), 120–127. https://doi.org/10.2174/1872213X12666180129165718
Azari, A. A., & Barney, N. P. (2013). Conjunctivitis: a systematic review of diagnosis and treatment. JAMA, 310(16), 1721–1729. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.280318
Høvding G. (2008). Acute bacterial conjunctivitis. Acta ophthalmologica, 86(1), 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0420.2007.01006.x
Thanks
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