Are your eyes getting dried up, turning red and tching? Get it checked, it might be conjunctivitis as city based eye hospitals are witnessing an increase in the number of conjunctivitis cases. Starting from March till date, Sankara Eye Hospital has received 421 cases.
Both infections of the eye (conjunctivitis) and allergic eye disease (vernal conjunctivitis) are seen. For the past one month we have seen an increase in the flow of patients coming in with complaints of conjunctivitis, and most of them are viral. We have seen more than 420 cases till date, says Dr Murali Kaushik, director, Sankara Eye Hospital. When asked why conjunctivitis cases rise during summer, Dr Kaushik said, "As the temperature rises, the dry heat increases the ambient dust and combined with increased pollution and pollen, predispose people to allergic conjunctivitis which causes marked irritation and tearing. Most causes of conjunctivitis are benign, with a self-limiting process. However, depending on the immune status of the patient, conjunctivitis can progress to increasingly severe and sight-threatening infections."
Narayana Nethralaya too has witnessed an increase in conjunctivitis cases by about 15 % in the past couple of days. Dr Rohit Shetty, vice president of the hospital told Deccan Chronicle, "Generally every year at this time, as temperature increases, we get a lot of conjunctivitis cases. Apart from normal conjunctivitis cases, we also got about 8-9 cases of severe corneal keratitis (a condition in which the eye's cornea, the front part of the eye, becomes inflamed) where those affected have a burning sensation in their eye, especially when they are exposed to light."
It is important not to self medicate as conjunctivitis can be of three kinds, bacterial, viral or allergic, and the treatment of the three are different. Maintaining proper hygiene, getting one's eyes checked by a specialist immediately, are the basic measures to be followed in order to prevent its spread.