Pinkeye

By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy

We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca

The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.

So, over Easter my sister-in-law looked at my son, Eric and said, “He has pinkeye! You have to keep him home from daycare you know!” Now, you should know that my sister-in-law is a daycare worker or Early Childhood Educator and does see a lot of three year old eyeballs. But, to be honest, it sure seemed like she knew more about pinkeye than I did, so it was time for some research.

The medical term for pinkeye is infectious conjunctivitis. Infectious conjunctivitis is inflammation of the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is a thin mucous membrane which runs to the edge of the cornea and also covers the moist back surface of the eyelids. The infection can be caused by a bacteria or viruses. Both types are highly contagious. That is why children in daycare with pinkeye should be kept at home while it is treated.

How do you tell if someone has pinkeye? Often the eye will feel irritated or scratchy and bright light may feel painful. The white of the eye turns pink as the blood vessels in the conjunctiva become bigger or dilated. Often a discharge appears. In our family they are called “eye goobies”. The discharge can cause the person’s eye to stick shut, especially at night. The discharge can cause the vision to blur, but it gets better with blinking. If the blurry vision doesn’t get better with blinking, this can be an infection of the cornea, and this is more serious.

What should you do if you think someone has pinkeye? Go see the doctor especially if the patient is a young child in school or daycare. Most cases of pinkeye will go away on their own. The patient and the caregiver should take extra precautions to avoid spreading the infection. This means lots of hand washing, keeping the wash cloth used on the infected eye away from everyone else in the house, and not touching the infected eye and then touching the uninfected eye.

The doctor may prescribe antibiotic drops for pinkeye. Antibiotic drops will only be helpful if the infection is caused by a bacteria, not a virus, but it can be very difficult for the doctor to tell the two apart.

So I sent my son to the walk-in clinic to get his eye looked at. His eye had no discharge at the time and wasn't pink. The doctor determined he had an ear infection, a throat infection and maybe something wrong with his chest, but his eyes seemed to be okay. Eric was put on oral antibiotics and we sent him to daycare. Later that day, the daycare called because Eric had a fever and more discharge from the eye. So we went back to walk-in. This time the doctor added on an antibiotic eye drop. And the doctor reminded me "eye-goobies" wasn't found in the medical dictionary.

As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.