One of the common eye diseases that causes the number of patients coming to see an eye doctor to skyrocket during the summer is conjunctivitis.

Our country is in the tropical climate zone, hot and humid, with lots of rain. There are up to 6 hot months, of which the 3 peak months are from June to September. During this time, diseases related to weather allergies and hot season diseases will run rampant.

Allergic constitution under the influence of weather makes the disease flare up

In addition to specific clinical manifestations: papillae on the tarsal conjunctiva, limbal infiltration, and opaque scleral light, taking a medical history will help the ophthalmologist confirm the diagnosis. Allergic diathesis is a very important feature when taking a medical history.

More than 80% of children will complain of a history of asthma as a child or still have it. Allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, food allergies are also considered allergic conditions, fertile ground for conjunctivitis to develop.

No need for expensive lab tests, just asking if your child is itchy or not, plus a clinical examination, can give you an 85% certainty in diagnosis. Conjunctivitis patients suffer from itching, the more they rub, the more they like it, itching to scratch their eyes out.

A severe form of the disease is perennial conjunctivitis. The spring-summer seasonality of the disease is gone. Patients have itching all year round, of course most severe in the summer. High temperatures, increased UV intensity, and lots of sunshine can make the stable disease suddenly worse.

The culprit causing conjunctivitis is adenovirus group.

The culprit is the Adeno virus group.

No one has never had pink eye, also known as epidemic eye disease, at some point in their life. Unfortunately, after having the disease, we do not gain lifelong immunity like with measles or chickenpox. That is why some people will get it a second time, then a third time...

The culprit is the adenovirus group, which has 6 subtypes from A to F with 47 different serotypes. Pathological manifestations of adenovirus on the eye are quite diverse, including: acute granular conjunctivitis; epidemic keratoconjunctivitis; febrile laryngoconjunctivitis; chronic granular keratoconjunctivitis.

This is a global, epidemic disease that often occurs in the hot season. The disease spreads easily because the virus is resistant to alcohol, and can survive on surfaces of household appliances and medical equipment for up to... 35 days. Common symptoms are symptoms of viral infection: mild fever, cough, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes.

Then there are the eye symptoms, which are very uncomfortable: red eyes, discharge, and burning. With conjunctivitis - keratitis, the symptoms of keratitis will appear from the 7th to the 14th day: diffuse epithelial inflammation, punctate subepithelial inflammation, and subepithelial infiltration.

The patient will have blurred vision, watery eyes, and photophobia, which is different from other benign forms: no blurred vision, photophobia, and the end is quick and gentle. Another type of end that frightens parents of young children is inflammation with pseudomembrane.

When there is a pseudomembrane, treatment will be more difficult, so the child should be taken to the hospital to have the pseudomembrane removed. Usually after 10 days, the disease tends to subside and be cured. The form with laryngitis will be accompanied by more severe systemic symptoms: high fever, fatigue, muscle pain, vomiting.

Fortunately, complications to the cornea in this form are very rare. Pink eye with extensive subconjunctival hemorrhage is caused by other viruses called coxakie A24 and enterovirus. Although it spreads strongly and makes patients afraid, it heals quickly and without complications.

Conjunctivitis from swimming pools

Summer is the season for swimming and water sports. Swimming increases the chance of contracting a bacteria called chlamydia, which is the same family of bacteria that causes trachoma. This bacteria can be transmitted from the genitals to the eyes or from eye to eye.

Doctors also call the disease swimming pool conjunctivitis or adult inclusion conjunctivitis. Symptoms of this disease are red eyes, gritty eyes, even like there is sand in the eyes.

Patients have difficulty seeing because of eye discharge, but vision does not decrease. More seriously, the eyelids may be swollen, red, with tears and pink discharge.

When experiencing the above symptoms, patients need to go to a medical facility for timely diagnosis and treatment. If you are not able to go to the doctor, you can use eye washes such as 0.9% saline or desomidine (this medicine can be purchased at pharmacies).

Doctor's advice

Swimming pool conjunctivitis can be easily prevented by wearing swimming goggles. Although the number of swimmers increases significantly in the summer, the demand for swimming pools is still limited. You should choose swimming pools with good hygiene conditions and regularly cleaned water.

After swimming, you should immediately use eye antiseptics such as saline or desomidine solution. And if you have pink eye, you should stop swimming to avoid spreading the disease to others.

Conjunctivitis in the summer, no matter what virus it is, our way of dealing with it will change little. Hand and eye hygiene, preventing the spread of infection is the most important. Wash your eyes with saline or artificial tears when someone around you has pink eye.

Antibiotics and steroids can be used but must be consulted with an ophthalmologist. Do not forget that hospitals are the environment where the disease spreads during the epidemic season because the frequency of contact between sick and healthy people in the hospital is very high.

Therefore, during the peak of the epidemic, you should not go to the hospital if not necessary, and you should also avoid crowded places such as supermarkets and elevators. Sterilization and hygiene in the hospital environment need more attention during the hot season.

According to Alobacsi