21 September 2010
Lucknow, India
Conjunctivitis is common around this part of the year. Though it is relatively a simple condition but the virus causing this infection spreads fast. But it transmits mainly through physical contact.
The virus spreads from the eyes to the fingers of an infected person when he touches his eyes. From fingers it is transferred to any other object that one touches such as door knobs, computer keyboard, cellphone, in fact any object at all.
Subsequently, when someone else touches the same object, the virus is transferred to his fingers in turn. And then it goes on to infect his eyes when he touches them. "Therefore prevention is very simple. All one needs to do is refrain from touching one’s eye," said Dr VB Pratap.
"If you do not touch your eyes, you can never get this infection, no matter how widespread it may be in the city. We need to create awareness among people that it is very simple to keep it away. Just don’t touch your eyes at all," he added.
People working in close proximity need to be careful if someone has the infection. Also, if someone in the family has it, he needs to ensure he does not touch his eyes and this goes for the other family members too. Dr Hemant Kumar revealed that the virus is present in the air around the infected person. "So an eye-contact with the person should be avoided," he said.
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