Viruses are Getting Tougher Nowadays

My little boy is still playful even if he has sore eyes.

It's been a week since my son CJ had conjunctivitis or sore eyes.  An ophthalmologist already checked his eyes and gave him a mild antibiotic but until now his left eye is still red and swelling so we went back to the doctor yesterday as per his instruction.

The doctor again checked on CJ's left eye and he told us that it seems that a tougher strain of virus infected his eye.  Normally for children it takes only a week for the sore eyes to be healed but in CJ's case it's different so he prescribed additional eye drop which contains steroid. 

The doctor said that he don't normally prescribe drugs with steroid to children unless it is really necessary and right now CJ needs it so we bought the additional eye drops.  There is actually an antibiotic eye drop which already contains steroid but since we still have the original prescription which does not contain steroid, the doctor just prescribed the additional eye drop with steroid.  It's a little inconvenient since I have to apply one eye drop after another.  I'm just glad that CJ is cooperative and the eye drops with steroid doesn't sting so he doesn't mind the additional drop.

I hope that this time CJ's left eye will get well soon so he can go back to school and play with his friends again.  Right now I don't let him play with other kids yet so I am his official playmate.

This week is their examination week and he missed it, anyway he can always take the special exams.  Small kids are so hard to control and it would be easy for the virus to spread so it's better to not let him go to school yet.

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.