Preventing the Spread of Conjunctivitis or Sore Eyes

Last Thursday my son's left eye was irritated and it swelled a little that we have it checked by an ophthalmologist.  The doctor's diagnosis is conjunctivitis or sore eyes and she prescribed Fucithalmic, a mild anti-bacterial eye drop.

Conjunctivitis is contagious that the doctor advised us not to let CJ go to school for one week, she gave us a medical certificate in case the school would need it.

Contrary to what I know, conjunctivitis or sore eyes cannot be transmitted by just looking at the infected eyes of a person so wearing sunglasses offers no protection for others.  Instead, the infection can be transmitted through direct contact with tears or eye discharge of the infected person.  Nasopharyngeal secretions can also transmit the infection through coughing or sneezing.

To prevent the spread of sore eyes, my son was advised to always wash his hands with soap and water and we were advised not to share pillows, towel, cell phones and other things that are possible for a direct contact with the tears and eye discharge of CJ.

Since CJ is only 5 years old, he needs assistance in wiping his tears and eye discharge which makes us very much vulnerable to sore eyes so we just make sure that whenever we touch his eyes, we immediately wash our hands thoroughly with soap and water and as much as possible we don't put our hands on our eyes.   Kissing and embracing him is also limited.

I hope CJ's eyes will be healed soon so he can go back to school, play with his friends outside and most especially we can kiss and embrace him again.