Conference moira::parenting

    	If your daughter's eyes were "sealed shut" chances are that she has
    conjunctivitis. (it is going around and we were put on "alert" by our
    daycare". The one time Spencer had it, he had lots of green goo
    (apologies to Clay ;-)) and his eyes were blood shot, as I recall,
    blood shot eyes were the definitive symptom for diagnosis.

    	In any event if you have any questions, call your Doctor, this is so
    common, that they will ask you a few questions over the phone and if it
    fits the "checklist" they will call in a prescription without even
    seeing your child.

    	Beware though, the medicine comes in two forms, drops and ointment,
    both are hell to administer and I would personally rather put ointment
    in my *cat's* eyes than in my son's (cats fight less and although you
    get scratched, you don't get kicked in the groin area).

    				Wendy

    I would go ahead and call her health care practitioner regardless, but
    do her eyes also look red and itchy?  it's not uncommon for me to get a
    cold and pink-eye at the same time, so it wouldn't surprise me to see
    it happen to a youngster.
    
    meg

    I had conjunctivitis a month or so ago.  The symptoms started out as a
    little itch in the corner of the eye.  Then some bloodshot in that same
    corner.  Then (because I was scratching it like a dummy), it spread
    over the entire eye and into the other one within 24 - 36 hours.  My
    eyes did not have the amount of goo as I've seen my kids get, but boy
    were they swollen, bloodshot (people thought I had been crying alot),
    and itchy!!!!  It was a week before it was gone - I was careful to wash
    my hands constantly and no one else got it.  I also had to toss my
    contact lenses to prevent risk of getting it again.  Now I will be able
    to EMPATHIZE with anyone who gets it and it sure ain't a picnic!!!
    
    -sandy
    

re: .0

I think the simple answer is that they are two entirely different diseases.  
Conjuntivitis is a highly contagious disease of the eye (I forget whether 
it's viral or bacterial).  It's possible to have conjunctivitis with no cold 
symptoms at all.  In fact every time my kids got it, they were perfectly 
healthy, with no indication of anything wrong at all, other than itchy red 
eyes.  It's possible to have discharges and swelling in the eye caused by 
things other than conjunctivitis.  See your pediatrician.

I agree with Wendy on administering the medication.  We were told the drops 
are more effective, but the ointment was the only way we could administer it, 
and even then we didn't do a very good job.  It usually took two of us.

Clay

    
    For applying the ointment, we have best luck doing it while Jason
    sleeps (he's a fairly heavy sleeper).   He gets a good dose that
    doesn't get wiped out and gets to work on the eye most of the 
    night.   I don't sweat the daytime applications too bad if he
    gets the good application at night-time.
    
    cj/

    "Conjunctivitis" only means an inflammation of the lining of the eye,
    NOT any specific disease.  Some of them are highly contagious, others
    less so; could be just one of the 200 or so cold viruses.  It's like
    saying "dermatitis"--ok, now we know *what's* inflamed (the skin), but 
    we still don't know what's *inflaming* it.
    
    from my "New Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus of the English
    Language" (1991; 230,000 entries):
    
    "Conjunctiva" - the mucous membrane lining the front of the eyeball and
    inner surface of the eyelid
    
    "-itis" - denoting inflammation, as in 'tracheitis' 
    
    "Conjunctivitis" - inflammation of the conjunctiva
    
    "pinkeye" - a highly contagious form of conjunctivitis
    
    [Or, an even more generic term for "my eye is yucky with something 
    mysterious"!]
    
    I realize that sometimes it's difficult to treat, but try to ignore the
    crepehangers who make it sound like head lice x 1000.  I wear hard
    contact lenses, and if I listened to those guys on the several times I
    had conjunctivitis, I probably would have put a gun to my head  %-)
    After all the kazillions of colds I've had, putting in unboiled
    contacts with unboiled hands, I'm convinced that conjunctivitis is
    DIFFICULT to catch; and when I've had it, no one around me has caught
    it from me.  Placate the frenzied daycare teachers, follow their rules
    but realize it's NOT the big deal they make it out to be.
    
    Leslie

    -1
    
    I agree, it's not a big deal - The drops are hard to administer on
    little kids and their eyes are red and yucky and kinda gross to 
    look at and they itch them a lot.  Same for adults.  My eyes are 
    terrible when I get it - but!  I have very sensitive eyes anyway!
    
    I disagree with the 'not contagious' part - My daughter and I pass
    it back and forth - usually twice before we get it out of the house!

    When I had conjunctivitis as a child, the doctor recommended a way
    for my parents to get liquid eye-drops in a child's eyes fairly
    easily.  In case it would be helpful to anyone, here's how it works.
    Have the child lie down on a flat bed, no pillow.  Have the child
    CLOSE her eyes.  Place a drop in the inner corner of the child's
    eye.  If the child's head is looking straight ahead and is on a flat
    surface, the drop will sit in the "valley" right above the tear 
    duct.  Then have the child slowly open her eyes, without moving
    her head.  The drop will slowly seep into the eye.
    
    This worked great for me.  The main discomforts of eyedrops are a)
    "seeing" the drop and dropper so close to your eye, and b) feeling
    the drop hit your eyeball.  This method alleviates both these 
    problems.  
    
    Jane

    Last Monday my husband picked Lindsey up from daycare and they told us
    that she may have conjunctivitis.  Her eyes were blood shot and they
    had green "goo" coming from both of them.  She had had a cold for
    probably two weeks prior to that.  We were told not to worry about the
    cold, just a virus (we had taken her in on a Sunday prior to this
    episode).  When I called the doctor, they asked if she had an ear
    infection.  As I wasn't sure, they said they wanted to see her. 
    Anyways, she had an ear infection and the doctor said it went hand-in-hand
    with conjunctivitis. 
    
    Anyone else experience this being hand in hand?  We've never experienced 
    it before and Lindsey is chronic with ear infections.
    
    Lisa Cozzens
    226-7187
    Netwks::Cozzens

    One other cause of conjunctivitis can be allergies.  I am
    plagued by 'allergic conjunctivitis' nearly year 'round.
    I'm sitting here right now with red itchy eyes, and eye drops 
    running out of each corner. It's a constant battle for me 
    because I have several airborne allergies. Five years of 
    allergy shots has only minimally reduced the eye problems.
    
    My kids get the same thing from time to time. It is seldom
    a treatable infection in our family.  The drops used for
    allergic conj. are vaso-constrictors.  It stops the itch and
    redness but doesn't do a thing to the allergins. 
    
    Jodi- 
     

    Conjuctiveitis and Ear Infections go hand in hand because..
    kids rub/pick-at their sore ears and then rub there eyes...
    This spreads the infection...
    

    oopps.. I mean THEIR EYES
    

    Conjunctivitis and ear infections go hand in hand because they are the
    same bacteria and can also travel through the nasal passenges (hot off
    the press from the pedi who is treating my 6 month old for double ear
    and double eye infections, with a virus in her throat to boot).
    
    It's been a fun week !

    
    	Ok. finally took her to the doctor's yesterday.  All day
    long her eyes were fine.  Not itchy, not red, and nothing floating.
    Every morning this week, her eyes were sealed shut such that she
    could not open them.
    
    	(of course, Monday was a holiday and this week my doctor's on
    vacation; always the way.)
    
    	The covering doctor checked for ear infection but fortunately 
    no signs of that.  She prescribed some drops since her eyes are
    sealed in the morning.
    
    We now have some antibiotic drops to use for a week or until 
    her eyes are better.  Still crusty this morning but should clear up 
    by the end of the weekend.
                          

    My 3 year old son had a cold this summer and his eyes were oozing
    copious amounts of goo. When I spoke to the backup doctor, she asked
    if he was complaining about eye irritation (rocks or sand in his eyes).
    He wasn't(nor were his eyes red) . She said it was just the cold 
    "backing" up into his eyes. She suggested a cold medicine and that
    seemed to clear it up. Took a while though.
    Sue
    
    

One thing I found that soothes the eyes, and helps to remove the gunk, is 
"normal" saline on a cotton wool ball. Make sure the saline does _not_ contain 
preservatives. The Boots brand is pretty good.
The antibiotics etc ARE still necessary, of course.

Chele    
    

I think the diagnosis and treatment of
conjunctivitis is just as variable as
a doctor's management of pregnancy.  It
all depends upon who the doctor/nurse
is.

*Our* pediatrician's opinions:

1)  it's the result of an eye
irritation - a cold virus, dirt,
an eyelash.

2)  usually, the eyes are bloodshot,
but not all bloodshot eyes are
infected.  Sometimes infected eyes
are not bloodshot.  The definitive test
is the color of the inner lower eyelid.
If it's bright red, the eye is
infected.  If not, it's just irritated.
Look at your own tonight, to see what
they look like when healthy.

3)  treatment is not often needed -
depends upon the cause.  If the kid
also has a cold, it is very likely
just the cold virus and no antibiotic
will make a difference.  They prescribe
the antibiotic so the kid can go back
to daycare.

4)  it is contagious as hell.  Do a
lot of hand-washing.


Pat

    Note to .9...
    
    Our pediatrician says that a lot of times conjunctivitis is a precursor
    to an ear infection. That is usually the only way I can tell when my
    youngest one has an ear infection. He doesn't get much of a fever.
    Usually the antibiotics for the ear infection clear up the
    conjuctivitis the next day.
    
    Janet

    	I was reading these notes a few days ago when Griffin was in the
    midst of conjunctivitis (And another note on this topic somewhere which
    described lots of changing sheets and washing with bleach) and I
    thought to myself, I thought:

    	What's the big deal, we've had conjunctivitis many times in our
    house and no one else has gotten it but the initial person. Another
    case of people who just don't understand the mechanics of bacteria.

    	Well that was a few days ago, and now being today, my eye is red
    and swollen and the inner lid is red (threatening to take credit for
    the eyes of the child in the exorcist. I've got to use the ointment for
    5 days and not wear contacts for 4-5 weeks. And now I'm thinking, I'm
    thinking:

    	The God of my Universe has some sense of humor, ok, ok , I get the
    message. Next time I'll try not to be so quick to judge.

    				Wendy

Well, my "Child Health" reference manual describes 2 kinds (not counting
allergy-induced) conjunctivitis: viral and bacterial. Viral is usually
accompanied by a fever and more watery eye secretions. Bacterial shows
a definite yellow discharge [most distinguishable symptoms, that is].

My 4-month old daughter apparently has the bacterial version - the pedi.
on call prescribed the antibiotic ointment over the phone based on the
description (and my pre-diagnosis based on the info. in the guide). She
(the dr.) asked if there was anything else "going on" with my daughter,
and when I said a runny nose, she said it's very common since the bacteria
are probably getting spread by the baby's hands to her eyes. I'll have to
watch for signs of ear infections (mentioned in a previous reply) too.

I second the suggestion to apply the ointment while the child is asleep!
Otherwise, it's nearly impossible.  The dr. said to (obviously) wash
hands well, dab a little ointment on one pinky finger then use your other
hand to "lift" the eyelid and apply the ointment just under the lashes.

The ointment is the same stuff they use on newborns' eyes (Ethremycin sp?)
and gets applied 4 times a day for 5 to 7 days but should show a big im-
provement after one day.  As for contagiousness - it can be transferred
by direct contact with the eye "gunk", but not, say, from proximity alone.

Wash, wash, wash those hands...(as if the frequency isn't already sky
high from all the food prep., face wipes, diaper changes, etc.!)

Never a dull moment,
-Cori 

    
    	Don't know if I had put this in here before, but when I recetnly
    had conjuntivitis I was given the Eryth. ointment and man oh man did
    that stuff ever sting. I literally had to sit down right afterward as
    the pain in my eyes made me blind for a few minutes.
    
     	When they say that the medication might sting, they aren't kidding!
    
    				Wendy

I wonder if erythromycin is the only (or the first) choice.  I recently had some
mild eye irritation, and just on the off chance that it might be bacterial, the
doctor put me on sodium sulamyd drops (a sulfa drug).  They weren't any more
irritating than my usual contact lens rewetting drops.

	-Neil

    
    	They specifically gave me Eryth. because I was still nursing, they
    had given Griffin some sulpha drops that didn't seem to bother him too
    much. (don't know why they switched drugs on us but they did)
    
    				Wendy