Highlights
- •Most red eye patients presenting to the ED are already on antibiotics
- •About 3–5% of conjunctivitis is caused by the Herpes Simplex Virus
- •Pseudomembranous conjunctivitis is commonly caused by adenovirus
Abstract
Importance
To update the literature on the current trends of viral conjunctivitis infections
in Sydney, Australia.
Background
To find correlations between viral and patient characteristics on disease outcomes
and to assess the rates of antibiotic and steroid use in patients with viral conjunctivitis
prior to and after assessment by ophthalmology trainees.
Design
Retrospective single-centre case series.
Participants
368 eyes of 224 patients diagnosed with viral conjunctivitis at the Sydney Eye Hospital
from 1 st January - 31 st March 2017.
Methods
Patients were identified from hospital records or polymerase chain reaction results.
Results
368 eyes of 224 patients, median age 35.3 (range 7–82) and 59.8% males, were included.
152 (67.9%) patients presented already on antibiotic treatment. Most patients (83.5%)
had no previous ocular history aside from 35 (15.6%) who were regular contact lens
wearers. PCR was performed in 170 (75.9%) patients, with 92 (54.1%) positive for adenovirus,
and 7 (4.1%) for HSV. The average duration of symptoms prior to presentation was 6.3
days. 177 (78.0%) patients presented within 1 week of symptom onset and these patients
were more likely to be adenovirus positive on PCR (OR = 2.37). Patients with symptoms
of longer duration were more likely to have photophobia (OR = 2.96) and have had steroid
treatment (OR = 3.80).
Conclusions and relevance
Patients with viral conjunctivitis typically presented within a week of symptom onset,
with bilateral disease and on topical antibiotics. Pseudomembranes and a palpable
preauricular lymph node were not common. As treatments emerge for viral conjunctivitis
patients may need to be encouraged to present earlier.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 09, 2019
Accepted:
July 3,
2019
Received in revised form:
July 3,
2019
Received:
March 3,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
