How do you deal with Conjunctivitis in Children?
I was at work today when I received a call from my son’s school to collect him because he has conjunctivitis. It turns out that he is now not allowed back at school until he has suitable eye drops prescribed by a doctor. I am surprised at this school policy and write more about this below.
Now, most parents are familiar with (bacterial) conjunctivitis. Your child has sore, red eyes and a rather unattractive, thick yellow discharge. Their eyelashes often stick together making it difficult for your child to open his/her eyes.
The main problem with conjunctivitis is that it is highly contagious. This means that you have to keep reminding your child to wash his/her hands and ensure that he/she does not share a towel with another child.
As far as I understand it, you can deal with it one of two ways:
1) Let nature take its course and the infection will usually clear up within one week or two. IN this case, you just keep carefully cleansing the eyes with cooled, boiled water and cotton wool. My doctor advised me to wipe from the inside of the eye out and to use a fresh cotton ball for each wipe.
2) Alternatively, you can use eye drops that are now available over the counter in most chemists. These drops contain the active ingredient Chloramphenicol. You then need to follow the instructions on the label/leaflet that come with the drops. Generally, there is an improvement within 48 hours.
I will be taking issue with the school policy because:
a) Why do I have to give my son antibiotics if I want him to return to school when the infection can be treated without them?
b) If I do give antibiotics to my son, why can’t I obtain the antibiotics over the counter at the chemist and sign a consent form for the teachers to administer them?
Maybe I am overreacting, but I would be seriously interested to hear how other parents /teachers /healthcare workers have dealt with this issue.
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June 10th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Hi there,
I completely agree. Perhaps it is too much hard work for the teachers to administer drops and to keep washing hands. My son is suffering from it at the moment, and he is 2. The problem with his age is that they do like to stick their fingers where they shuoldn’t -and they touch EVERYTHING! Perhaps it is spread easier at his age. Older children shouldn’t be so bad. What has been the outcome of your protest?