The hot and humid weather during monsoons leads to spurt of eye flu or conjunctivitis in people across cities. Experts tell Sangeeta Yadav the best treatment and preventive measures
Monsoon brings a lot of viral infections including eye flu or conjunctivitis which is on a rise these days. Some gets it along with viral fever and cold. Some gets it from extreme hot and humid weather conditions and others from and infected person.
The problem with an eye flu is that once a person gets infected, it leaves turns your eyes red, it burns, and irritates, leaves the eyes dry and itchy, sensitivity to light and in severe cases pus-like discharge.
According to Homeopathic expert Dr Pankaj Aggarwal, the outbreak of conjunctivitis takes place during hot humid weather when the water content in the air is higher. “Our eyes are always exposed to the air and there is a thin watery layer that protects the eyes from harmful bacteria and viruses in the air. During monsoon, as one’s immunity level goes down, the protected layer breaks open and exposeing the eyes to viruses and bacteria in the air. That’s how we get conjunctivitis,” Dr Aggarwal says.
There are three types of conjunctivitis:
Viral: This is air borne and causes common cold as well. It is highly contagious and spreads from person to person.
Bacterial: This is also contagious but more easily treated with the help of eye drops and proper hygience care.
Allergic: This is a noncontagious type, as the allergens are unique to each individual. People who have allergic conjunctivitis are generally sensitive to pollen, grass, hay, dust and mites.
The most occurring types during monsoon is bacterial and viral conjunctivitis. Though conjunctivitis can be cured without the treatment, doctors advise that to prevent this from spreading to others, it is important to take antibiotics.
Dr Rajeev Sudan, director of Amar Eye Centre and RR Eye Care and former MD, ophthalmology at AIIMS, New Delhi, says: “It is a seasonal viral infection for which we don’t have any definitive treatment. It is only symptomatic treatment that we advise that includes cool compresses that reduces inflammation and pain. We also give general antibiotics to prevent infection. Paracetamol for pain is good. If someone is having haziness in the eyes, puss and pain near the ears, they should consult the doctor and take ample amount of rest and drink water. It is important to check that it is not a bacterial infection as that takes longer time to cure than a viral infection,” Sudan says.
Agrees Dr Uma Mallaiah, senior consultant Ophthalmologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital and adds that the emphasis is to make the patient comfortable and lubricating eyes helps.
“If it is a viral conjunctivitis, it gets cured on itself. Only supportive treatment is given to keep the patient comfortable. We are getting a lot of cases of conjunctivitis especially in children. We prefer to give antibiotics but it doesn’t always help as conjunctivitis comes with viral fever and cold. What is more important is to give lubricating eye drops like Refresh Eye Drop and Ocumoist Max Eye Drops because it is mainly about the symptomatic cure rather than getting rid of conjunctivitis as it takes its own time to heal. Generally, it takes one to three weeks to cure this. To treat the swelling and pain relief, we give the anti-allergic tablets,” Dr Uma says.
Simple home remedies like maintaining a clean and hygienic environment also helps. “It is important to control the temperature of the AC and should keep it 24 °C. By doing this, we will be able to create the same environment which is easier for us to acclimatise. Our immunity breaks when we put our body under severe conditions like too cold or too hot. The body fails to acclimatise and the virus and bacteria catches us,” Dr Aggarwal advises.
Prevention is important so that you break the cycle of spread it to the others. “You should not touch the eyes and if you do, wash your hands. Do not share your handkerchief with others. You don’t get conjunctivitis by looking into the patient’s eye. But if the patient wears spectacles, you are less likely to touch your eye and transmit it to others,” Dr Mallaiah says.
A lot of people also prefer homeopathic treatment which experts say is fast, and brings back the immunity. “We advise the patient to take Apis Melifica 200 pills. The cure is fast, anti-viral and builds your immunity as well. Also, one must splash water into the eyes twice daily,” Dr Aggarwal says.