Specialist 2 Nguyen Thi Bach Tuyet (Ophthalmology specialist, Interdisciplinary Department of Children's Hospital 2) said that conjunctivitis (pink eye) in children often occurs at the time of changing seasons, due to changes in weather, viruses and bacteria causing the disease. This is an easily spread disease, the main route of transmission is direct contact with secretions of the eyes, nose, mouth, such as sharing personal items with sick people, through towels, clothes, water in swimming pools, through the hands of sick people with people who are not sick, rubbing hands on eyes...
Is pink eye caused by adenovirus and enterovirus dangerous? Do I need to use preventive eye drops?
Common symptoms include red eyes due to conjunctival congestion, gritty eyes as if there is sand in the eyes, watery eyes, eyes with a lot of discharge (can be white, sticky discharge if the disease is caused by a virus, or can be green-yellow discharge if due to bacterial infection), children have difficulty opening their eyes when waking up in the morning.
In addition, children may have symptoms of rhinitis, pharyngitis, respiratory tract infection, mild fever... In particular, children may have pseudomembranes, which are a thin, white membrane covering the conjunctiva causing bleeding.
According to the rapid report results of the laboratory of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Unit in collaboration between the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and OUCRU, enterovirus and adenovirus are the two main agents causing pink eye today, of which, enterovirus is dominant (86%), while the previously common agent, adenovirus, only accounts for a small number (14%).
Pink eye can lead to complications if not treated properly.
Proper hygiene prevents pink eye
Specialist Doctor Le Duc Quoc (Department of Ophthalmology, Nam Sai Gon International General Hospital) said that during the time when pink eye epidemic is increasing, parents can clean their children's eyes 2-3 times a day with NaCl saline (0.9%) at times such as after waking up, after bathing and at night before going to bed. For children with a lot of eye discharge (eye secretions), eyes can be cleaned at any time.
For children with pink eye, parents should take their children to a medical facility for examination to receive advice from doctors and use the correct medication and dosage, avoiding the misuse of medication that can cause complications.
Clean eyes with 0.9% NaCl saline
To avoid mistakes when cleaning children's eyes, parents need to pay attention to the following issues:
- Wash your hands thoroughly when cleaning your child's eyes.
- Do not use the same sterile gauze to clean both eyes of the child because it can spread the disease from one eye to the other (especially for children with pink eye on one side).
- After cleaning the child's eyes, parents should wash the child's face with a clean towel and warm water. After use, the towel must be washed and dried in the sun to prevent the growth of disease-causing bacteria.
"In addition, to protect children's eyes, parents need to limit their children's exposure to disease-causing risks such as dust and sunlight, and avoid close contact with people with eye diseases because of the risk of infection, especially during the pink eye epidemic," Dr. Quoc advised.
Quick view 12 o'clock: Panorama news
According to HCDC, from the beginning of 2023 to August 31, the total number of conjunctivitis (pink eye) cases recorded at hospitals in the city was 63,309 cases, an increase of 15.38% over the same period in 2022, which was 53,573 cases.
Of the total 63,039 cases, 1,001 had complications, accounting for 1.59%. Common complications of conjunctivitis include keratitis, corneal ulcers, corneal scars, secondary infections, impaired vision, etc.
The number of children under 16 years old with conjunctivitis in the first 8 months of 2023 was 15,402 cases, accounting for 24.43%. Among children under 16 years old with conjunctivitis, there were 288 cases of complications, accounting for 1.87%.
Source link
Comment (0)