The diagnosis of conjunctivitis is made with inflammation of the conjunctiva. This is the outer transparent shell, the inner coating of the eyelids and sclera.
Viral conjunctivitis most often occurs during a common cold, sore throat, or during upper respiratory tract infections.
This kind of disease is quite common. Often, viral conjunctivitis takes on the character of an epidemic. This happens because this disease is very contagious. Often, viral conjunctivitis accompanies many infectious diseases.
The main causative agents of the disease
There are more than 150 viruses pathogenic for humans, which in one form or another can infect the organ of vision and cause viral conjunctivitis. For example, eye diseases such as pharyngoconjunctival fever or epidemic conjunctivitis were described back in 1889. But, despite this, the adenoviral nature was established only in the early 60s of the twentieth century. And some eye diseases have been identified recently. Here, for example, in Africa in 1969-1979. a pandemic of epidemic hemorrhagic conjunctivitis occurred. The causative agent in this case was Enterovirus-70, which is in the picornavirus group.
In the pathology of the eyes, a significant role is played by herpes viruses, which act on the tissues endogenously, therefore they are almost safe with respect to epidemiology. Adenoviruses have been actively studied since 1952.
To date, more than 45 types of pathogens of this group have been identified, 28 of which are isolated from humans. Pharyngoconjunctival fever is caused by serotypes A-3 and A-7, and epidemic keratoconjunctivitis is caused by serotype A-8.
All adenoviruses have a common antigen, multiply in the nucleus of epithelial cells and have a size of 60-85 nm. The adenovirus core consists of double-stranded DNA. They survive well in medicinal solutions, including eye drops. You can deactivate them with 0.5 and 1% chloramine solution and 5% phenol solution.
Viral conjunctivitis - symptoms of the disease
The main signs of this disease are:
- redness of the eye;
- severe lacrimation;
- eye irritation;
- the lesion passes from one eye to another.
Herpetic conjunctivitis
One of the common forms of the disease is herpetic conjunctivitis. This inflammation of the eyes causes the herpes simplex virus. Most often, such a viral conjunctivitis occurs in children. The virus affects one eye. In this case, the disease proceeds very sluggishly and for a long time. Often during an illness, rashes appear in the form of herpetic vesicles on the skin of the eyelids.
There are forms of catarrhal and follicular herpetic conjunctivitis. These forms are usually very easy. During illness, a small amount of mucous fluid is released from the eyes. Sometimes, if the bacterial flora joins, the discharge becomes purulent. Moreover, the conjunctiva of the eye is almost not red. During the follicular form, bubbles form on the conjunctiva.
There is also a vesicular-ulcerative form, which is considered the most severe. During the course of this disease on the conjunctiva, ulcers covered with a thin film form. Strong tearing and burning eyes in bright light also appear.
Prevention
With viral conjunctivitis, the following rules should be followed:
- Do not touch and wipe the infected eye;
- wash hands often with warm soapy water;
- wash out any particle that gets into the eye. Do this with a moistened new cotton swab or paper towel;
- do not apply makeup for the eyes;
- do not use eye drops at the same time for an infected and healthy eye;
- Do not wear someone else’s contact lenses (and it’s advisable not to use your own during the period of illness)
- do not use other people's towels;
- wash your laundry in hot water with detergent;
- Wash hands thoroughly after eye instillation.