Eye Flu Cases on Rise: 5 Tips to Protect Your Child From Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis is a serious eye illness that mostly affects youngsters. Even while it is often a mild and self-limiting ailment, it can nonetheless make the kid and their family uncomfortable and inconvenient.

Eye Flu Cases on Rise in School: Flooding and waterlogging brought on by the intense monsoon rains are thought to be the primary causes of the highly contagious infection’s fast spread across Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and the Northeast. Many schools have released policies to stop the spread of conjunctivitis as instances continue to rise across the nation. While many educational institutions have encouraged students to adopt hygiene precautions including frequent handwashing, avoiding touching eyes, not sharing hand towels, and maintaining social distancing, schools in Arunachal Pradesh were shuttered to limit the spread.

EYE FLU RISKS FOR CHILDREN IN SCHOOL

Kids are just more physically active than adults and tend to stick together in groups, whether they be in schools or parks, making them more susceptible to conjunctivitis. Little ones are more inclined to rub and scratch their eyes and to regularly get their hands filthy, which increases their risk of contracting a virus or bacterium.

Eye doctors are concerned that the widespread diagnosis of eye flu or conjunctivitis cases might signal the emergence of a new viral infection-related hazard.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF EYE FLU

While there are many different varieties of conjunctivitis and it can be brought on by bacteria, viruses, or allergies, the illness that is most common nowadays is an acute viral infection that runs its own course and is self-limiting.  Redness, itching, stickiness in the eyes, and swollen eyelids are just a few of the symptoms.  The thick discharge from the eyes caused by a bacterial infection appears yellow or green.

5 TIPS TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM EYE FLU/ CONJUNCTIVITIS

1. Teach your kid to avoid rubbing their eyes since doing so might make the infection worse or cause it to spread to other regions of the eye. Make sure they adhere to the necessary cleanliness procedures advised by their eye care specialist if they wear contact lenses.
2. A number of irritants, including smoke and dust, can make conjunctivitis symptoms worse. Reduce your child’s exposure to these irritants as much as possible to stop the problem from getting worse.
3. Teach your kids good hygiene habits like washing their hands, not touching their eyes, and not sharing things like towels, pillows, and cosmetics.
4. To avoid problems and additional spread, get medical assistance right once if your kid displays any eye flu symptoms.
5. Sanitize eyewear, contact lenses, and anything else that comes into touch with the eyes on a regular basis.

While medication or eyedrops do not provide instant relief in cases of viral infections, the symptoms do subside over the course of one to two weeks.