How to prevent pink eye

The Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) has just recommended that people need to take good measures to prevent and control pink eye disease.

Patients with pink eye have their eyes examined at the Central Eye Hospital.

Pink eye (also known as conjunctivitis) is an eye infection, often caused by bacteria or viruses or by allergic reactions, with the characteristic symptom of red eyes. The disease often starts suddenly, first in one eye, then spreads to the other eye. Pink eye is very easy to catch, easy to spread in the community and cause epidemics. To date, there is no vaccine to prevent the disease, no specific treatment and people who have had pink eye can still be infected again just a few months after recovering from the disease.

The main cause of pink eye is the Adenovirus virus, or bacteria such as streptococcus, staphylococcus, pneumococcus. The disease often occurs in summer to late autumn, when the weather changes from hot to rainy, the air humidity is high, when the seasons change... In addition, the environment is full of dust, poor hygiene, use of polluted water sources, sharing of household items such as towels, pillows... are also favorable conditions for the disease to develop.

Although pink eye is an acute disease with severe symptoms and is easily transmitted, it is usually benign and leaves few sequelae. However, the disease greatly affects daily life, study and work; there are many cases where the disease lasts for a long time, causing complications that affect vision later, so everyone needs to be aware of disease prevention and need to be treated promptly when sick. The pathogen can survive in a normal environment for several days and the patient can still be a source of infection a week after recovery. Therefore, the best way to prevent the disease is to thoroughly implement hygiene measures and isolate the patient.

When there is no epidemic, it is necessary to always ensure personal hygiene, wash hands regularly with soap and clean water; use separate towels, pillows, and washbasins; wash towels with soap and clean water, dry towels in the sun every day; do not rub your eyes with your hands.

During an outbreak of pink eye, in addition to always taking the above measures, it is important to wash your hands with soap or antiseptic solution; wash your eyes daily with saline (0.9% saline), at least 3 times a day in the morning, noon and evening. Do not share eye drops or personal items with people with pink eye. Limit contact with people with pink eye, limit going to crowded places, especially places with many pathogens such as hospitals, limit the use of contaminated water sources, and limit swimming.

The Department of Preventive Medicine also provides a way to handle when someone is sick or suspected of having pink eye: Clean the eye discharge at least twice a day with a damp tissue or cotton pad, then throw away the tissue, do not reuse it. Do not put eye drops in the healthy eye that is infected. Avoid dust and smoke, wear sunglasses for the eyes. Children with sore eyes should stay home from school, do not take them to crowded places. When children have sore eyes, one eye usually hurts first, so they need to be carefully cared for to avoid infecting the other eye. Let the child lie on one side, put eye drops in, then use a medical gauze to immediately wipe away the discharge, discharge and tears (do the same for adults). Avoid hugging when children are sick. Before and after cleaning the eyes, putting eye drops, wash your hands thoroughly with soap or antiseptic solution. The sick person needs to rest, isolate, and take medicine as prescribed by the doctor. Do not buy eye drops on your own and do not apply leaves such as betel leaves, mulberry leaves, etc. to your eyes. If the condition does not improve after a few days, go to a medical facility immediately for examination and treatment.

According to QĐND