Open House: What steps should be taken to check the spread of conjunctivitis?

Cases of conjunctivitis, also known as eye flu, are rising dramatically across the country. According to health experts, a spike in conjunctivitis cases is usually observed during the monsoon season every year. However, incessant rains, flooding, and increased moisture in the atmosphere have contributed to a rise in conjunctivitis cases. A lot of bacteria and viruses thrive in this season due to the increased humidity levels and contamination of water. Also, it affects mostly children (as compared to adults) as they are among the most vulnerable section. Some common symptoms of eye flu are redness, blurry vision, swelling, fluid discharge, etc. It tends to disappear on its own, but consulting a specialist is advisable if it is painful. There is a general belief that wearing sunglasses and not looking into the eyes of an infected person can stop the spread of infection. However, this is a myth as conjunctivitis cannot spread by looking into an infected person’s eyes. The best way to ensure its prevention and spread is by maintaining hygiene and not using any items of an infected person. The disease spreads by direct contact or through touching an infected person’s items like towels, pillow covers, taps, door handles, etc. Always wash your hands with a soap, especially after returning home. Always clean or replace your contact lenses. An infected person should not wear contact lenses till the disease persists. The infected kids should not be sent to school if their eyes are red. If possible, office-goers should work from home to avoid its spread at the workplace. Kids should be advised against touching eyes/ face in school. Swimming should be avoided as an infected person can contaminate the pool water and infect others. Taking appropriate measures and treatment can help curb the spread of this epidemic.

Ronak Bhargav

Don’t indulge in self-medication

Rising humidity levels post heavy rains and floods are some of the major reasons behind the spread of conjunctivitis. The least the local civic bodies and administrations can do is ensure that rainwater does not accumulate on roadsides or in streets for days. Similarly, roadside hoardings and print and electronic media advertisements can guide the general public how to prevent this disease. It is advisable that everybody must wash his hands at regular intervals, stay away from an infected person, avoid touching your eyes, disinfect often-touched areas at your workplace. The most important precaution is to avoid self-medication or taking steroids as this can cause corneal ulcer. Hence prevention is better than cure.

Naresh Johar

Avoid touching eyes with dirty hands

First of all, a number of home remedies should be adopted. Maintaining good hygiene by washing hands with a soap and water and not touching your eyes with unclean hands can keep the disease at bay. Secondly, avoid contact with people having conjunctivitis. Last but not least, people should avoid going out in crowded areas lest they should contract the contagious disease.

SANJAY CHAWLA

Use sanitiser frequently

Conjunctivitis has affected a large section of public in cities and villages of the state. Though it causes painful irritation in the eyes, one should not be scared of it. In fact, it is an annual feature around this time of the year, but this time excessive moisture in the wake of unprecedented floods has aggravated the situation. Like all viral diseases, it is also self-limiting and disappears on its own after about a week. Secretions from the affected eye are, however, highly infectious and if one happens to touch the contagious secretions, one should wash his hands with a soap. Schoolchildren are comparatively more susceptible to pink eye, which is likely to infect a teacher’s eyes through the touch of the notebooks of the infected students. Even doctors are not immune. Touching infected surfaces, door handles and even faucet knobs or levers can transfer the infection to other persons if we touch it with our fingers. One should put enough sanitisers on their fingers. Lubricant drops or cold compresses provide relief. These days it does not affect a large number of people like it used to in the past. Doctors recommend that we should not share towels, handkerchiefs or other personal items. Congested places are better be avoided, but if unavoidable, one must wash one’s hands with a soap and running water and let them dry on their own. Small towels are easier to maintain than large ones. Eye flu, like dengue, cholera or malaria, is not a public health issue. Even ministers are equally vulnerable to it, because they have to shake hands with a number of persons daily during their day-to-day activities.

PROF MOHAN SINGH

Wear glasses, wash hands properly

Eye flu is spreading rapidly these days. We know that eye flu is a communicable disease that spreads from person to person. There is no proper treatment for this ailment. Those infected with the disease must adopt on precautionary measures as the proverb — prevention is better than cure — exhorts us to follow it. When we see redness in the eyes; feel itching and irritation; and have watery discharge from the eyes and swollen eyelids, it means we have been infected with eye flu. We should not take medicines or injections for this disease. We should be more careful with it. We should not rub the eyes during itching and irritation. We should wear glasses to prevent its spread. We should wash our hands properly.

Sucha Singh Saga

Keep surroundings clean to check spread

The contagious viral eye flu is cause of concern, the aggravating factor is intimidating weather conditions with sweltering heat and humidity besides most of rural areas inundated with floods. This manifests tropical diseases like malaria, dengue, gastroenteritis, which may assume epidemic dimensions. But our callous health administration doesn’t believe in wise adage, “Prevention is better than cure.” Need is preventive measures like clean surroundings, potable drinking water and sustained campaign to sensitise the public about personal hygiene. Desirable is to render the treatment at doorstep adopting cluster approach. It will obviate patients inconvenience and check spread of disease. Worth mentioning that city has the highest number of hospitals in Asia besides leading eye clinics owned by opulent doctors. They must rise to occasion to offer voluntary service thus supplementing government efforts as latter has limited manpower and resources.

Bakhshi Gurprit Singh

Take medicines prescribed by docs

Prevention is better than cure. Conjunctivitis or commonly known as eye flu, no doubt is a contagious viral disease. To check the spread of this contagious viral disease, all public places/ utilities are required to be kept clean. Wash your hands frequently with soap. Do not touch your eyes, nose, and mouth. Sprinkle cold water on eyes frequently. Once infected, avoid visiting crowded public places. Always wear black sun glasses for safety reasons. The handkerchief used to clean infected eyes must not to be used for any other purpose. Avoid shaking hands. Do not panic it is curable. Once infected keep distance from other family members / friends. Whenever irritation in eyes or any other symptoms like redness in the eyes are felt take the advice of an authorised medical consultant and use medicines as prescribed by them.

Kamal Nayan Sharma

Raise awareness on eye care

Surge in humidity level in Punjab, coupled with incessant rain, has brought about a dreadful calamity in the state in the form of “pink eye” disease. The Health Department is concerned about a significant increase in cases of conjunctivitis, also known as eye flu. In the past 15 days, more than 300 cases of eye flu have been reported in the district. The Civil Hospital here alone is witnessing 50 to 60 cases per day in the OPD. This is an alarming condition considering that this is a transferable disease just like Covid. The government must take immediate and effective economic action before the situation gets out of hand. The government should organise campaigns and programmes on television along with articles in newspapers to make the masses aware of the symptoms, precautions and cures of this sickness. By this, the public will be able to easily identify the victim of this dreadful virus and protect themselves and their families. The symptoms of this disease are burning, scratchy, or gritty feeling pus-like discharge, redness sensitivity to light and tearing. In this way, together the government and the common man will be efficiently able to fight this issue. Prevention is better than cure, but unfortunately, the bitter truth is that the only way to stop this disease is by maintaining cleanliness which is highly compromised in an overpopulated country like India. It is imperative that individuals recognise the necessity of the current course of action, as it is the most effective means of ensuring their safety and security. It is of utmost importance that proper hygiene and sanitation practices are upheld to maintain this level of safety and security. The government should run hygiene checks in households near sewage or ponds or any overcrowded places which are prone to the danger of infection of conjunctivitis.

Lakshit Jindal

Wash hands with soap and water

It is quite common to suffer nowadays from conjunctivitis, an eye flu that can cause redness, irritation, discharge, and blurred vision. It can be caused by viruses, bacteria, allergens, or irritants. It’s very contagious and spreads easily from person to person, so it is essential to follow some simple preventive tips and proper cures. These include washing hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, particularly before and after touching eyes or applying eye drops/ointment. Avoid touching or rubbing your eyes with unwashed hands. This can worsen the condition or spread it to another eye or someone else’s. Don’t share personal items like pillows, towels, makeup, brushes, contact lenses, cases, or glasses that come in contact with your eyes. In case one has conjunctivitis, such items should be washed frequently with warm water and detergent. If one wears contact lenses, he/she must follow the instructions from the eye doctor on how to clean, store, and replace them. Do not wear contact lenses until the eye doctor approves it to do so. In such a situation one may switch temporarily to glasses or use disposable lenses. Allergens or irritants that trigger conjunctivitis such as pollen, dust, pet dander, smoke, chlorine, or chemicals, must be avoided and artificial tears can help lubricate eyes and relieve dryness. If one has conjunctivitis caused by bacteria or viruses, it’s essential to consult the eye specialist for antibiotic eye drops/ointment.

Dr Kulwant Singh Phull

Govt Ensures eye drops in market

The cases of conjunctivitis (commonly known as eye flu) are increasing day by day and are in spurt. Number of people are creating redness in their eyes and when they are caught with the eye flu they rush to the eye surgeon. The Central Government should ensure enough availability of eye drops in the market. The state Health Department should keep a routine check at the shops of whole sellers and chemists to ensure availability of eye drops. The Union Government should direct the pharmaceutical companies to increase the production of eye drops. The Health Department should make these eye drops available at various points until the menace of eye flu is decreased. Not only the cases of eye flu will increase sharply the cases of waterborne diseases can also engulf the masses, even though RO water coolers have been installed by residents in their houses. The main priority of the Health Department should be that the medicine does not run under short supply which can pave way towards black marketing of the medicines. The affected persons should avoid visiting public places.

Rajat Kumar Mohindru

Avoid shaking hands with infected persons

First of all stop fearing, it’s preventable and curable. Do not shake hands with anyone (do namaste), wash hands and eyes frequently. Don’t touch surfaces and articles exposed to the affected people. Don’t touch eyes without washing hands. Use hand sanitisers, wear glasses while going outside so that eyes can be protected from direct exposure and unnecessary touching. Consult an expert in case of conjunctivitis like symptoms and never indulge into self-medication.

Dr Manpreet Singh

Prevention is better than cure

Incessant rains followed by floods resulted in damp conditions everywhere. Consequent rise in humidity level has led to sudden spurt in cases of conjunctivitis, commonly known as eye flu or pink eye inflammatory disease. Usually, it is caused by bacterial and viral infections, with symptoms of irritation in eyes and other respiratory complications, such as a sore throat and mild temperature, etc. Being highly contagious ailment, it communicates very fast from one person to another and eyes being a sensitive part of human body, need earnest care and safeguards to keep away from its infection, especially during moist climate. While hygiene is the best remedy, touching eyes be avoided as any secretions from eyes may spread the disease to anyone who comes across. For safety, one should cover eyes with dark glasses and use recommended eye drops once the infection catches. As far as possible, the infected person should remain in isolation from other family members for 4-5 days, to avoid sharing items used like pillows, bed sheets, towels or face makeup brushes, etc. Although, the disease is self-curing in due course, yet it can be dangerous if certain safeguards are not followed. It is, therefore, vital to take special precautions in schools, business places and offices to prevent the spread of disease upon mass contacts. The public relation department may launch awareness campaign, while the government hospitals and Aam Aadmi Clinics provide required medical assistance, especially in the vulnerable areas. Obviously, prevention is better than cure.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Take help of NGOs

Rainy season brings relief from heat and humidity but also carry with it certain diseases like dengu, malaria and eye flu. These days swollen red and itching eyes are a common sight. It can be controlled by adopting a few measures.

Firstly, the Health Department should send teams headed by an eye specialist to the slums. Medicines should be distributed free of cost. Slum dwellers should be told about the prevention and precautions of the disease. Secondly, separate check-up rooms should be provided in civil hospitals for the patients of eye flu. This will help in reducing the chances of spreading the disease. Thirdly, with the help of print and electronic media masses should be informed about the symptoms and treatment of eye flu. Fourthly, in villages where the civil hospitals are not easily approachable, camps should be organised and medicines be distributed free of cost. For this purpose help of NGOs can be sought. To get rid of the disease, organise awareness camps in schools.

Anjali Kumar

Good hygiene mandatory

It is generally observed that eye flu, also called conjunctivitis, spreads during rainy season and this fact can be properly utilised in taking preventive measures both at individual and administrative level. The health authorities need to be fully prepared in making emergency medical services available while keeping the public aware of taking documented precautions before the onset of eye flue. Good hygiene is important to maintain healthy eyes and to save from the condition called blepharitis which in turn is a basic

preventive measure to keep away from conjunctivitis. For individuals, hand washing at regular intervals and not to touch eyes is the best preventive measure that can be easily undertaken. Avoid public gatherings

and staying maximum at home during the emergency are other best options one can exercise to avoid medical treatment.

Jagdish Chander

Avoid wearing contact lenses

Conjunctivitis, which is also known as pink eye or eye flu, is spreading very fast. Awareness and prevention is very important. It is highly contagious viral bacterial

infection, very common, more than 10 million cases per year. It spreads very easily and often resolves within a weak. If problem persists, must consult a doctor.

It spreads by touching a contaminated surface, by hand shake, from hugs. Awareness is required. Wearing Contact lens should be avoided. Precautions must be taken, wash eyes with cold water to save from irritation. Antibiotics eye drops can shorten the duration of bacterial conjunctivitis. Keep a pad dipped in hot water and keep over eyes, it will give a soothing effect. Change pillowcases and sheets daily, don’t use anybody’s towel. No eye makeup and no lenses.

Shashi Kiran

Stop going to crowded places

After the start of intense heat summer season, people always wait for rain. But excessive humidity in the rainy season too brings the spread of many viral diseases that includes conjunctivitis also. To stop the spread of these diseases, people must take precautions and avoid making direct physical contact with each other which includes unnecessary shaking of hands or hugging someone. People must regularly wash their hands and avoid going to crowded places. In case of any indication of a virus attack or eye flu symptoms, the doctor’s advice should be taken.

Harvinder Singh Chugh

QUESTION

There has been a rise in cases of gullible people not only falling prey to fraud immigration agencies, but also landing in jails abroad. What steps should be taken by the state government to keep a check on such agencies?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to [email protected] by Thursday (Aug 17).

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