The national capital is inundated with Yamuna River water. There has been a sudden outbreak of eye flu in Delhi owing to these cases of conjunctivitis and other eye infections are on the rise in Delhi, with many doctors cautioning that it is “highly contagious” and proper hygiene behavior needs to be maintained to check its spread. Doctors at both government and private hospitals said they have been receiving cases largely from the younger population in the city. It is a “self-limiting infection” and each individual immunity will have a role to play in the course of the disease. The monsoon’s humid and damp conditions provide an ideal breeding ground for the viruses or bacteria responsible for these infections to spread rapidly, he said.
To stop the spread of the infection, touching of eyes should be the least, contact of the same with others should be avoided, and isolation of school children for 3-5 days in case of infection after which if the treatment is started they can be non-infective.
How Long Eye Flu Will Last?
Typically, eye flu lasts about a few days to around two weeks. Pink eye is also of two types. One has due to viruses like herpes or adenovirus. This usually lasts from 10-14 days and in severe cases, it may go on for about a month long. The other one a bacterial pink eye, which may last for around 10 days.
According to Healthline, a virus that causes viral pink eye can spread from your nose to your eyes, or you can catch it when someone sneezes or coughs and the droplets come in contact with your eyes. Bacteria cause bacterial pink eye. Usually, the bacteria spreads to your eyes from your respiratory system or skin. You can also catch the bacterial pink eye if you:
HOW TO TREAT EYE FLU?
Eye flu is spreading like wildfire in Delhi and is regarded as highly contagious as well. Symptoms are watery discharge in the eyes, redness, congestion, photophobia, hemorrhages in the superficial layer of the eye.
The management is through antibiotic eye drops, eye ointments, topical decongestants, lubricants and some oral anti-allergic. According to experts, eye flu can be treated with cold compression of the eye through ice packs.
Cases of conjunctivitis and skin allergy are mostly being reported from relief camps housing people affected by the flooding in parts of Delhi, city Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on July 17.
