Conjunctivitis

You're treating pink eye the wrong way - Amanda MacMillan

Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis

image by: Becken Vision Solutions

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Antibiotic Eye Drops Often Unhelpful for Pinkeye

Doctors often prescribe antibiotic eye drops to people with conjunctivitis, or pinkeye, even though they are almost always ineffective, a new study found.

About 80 percent of cases of pinkeye are caused by a virus, and there is no treatment for viral conjunctivitis. Most bacterial conjunctivitis is mild and will get better in a week or two without treatment. Antibiotics are effective only in the much smaller number of cases that involve the bacteria that cause gonorrhea or chlamydia.

In a retrospective study of 340,372 people with conjunctivitis, 58 percent received prescriptions for antibiotic eye drops.

About 83 percent of people in the study were given a diagnosis…

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 Antibiotic Eye Drops Often Unhelpful for Pinkeye

Doctors often prescribe antibiotic eye drops to people with conjunctivitis, or pinkeye, even though they are almost always ineffective, a new study found. About 80 percent of cases of pinkeye are caused by a virus, and there is no treatment for viral conjunctivitis. Most bacterial conjunctivitis is mild and will get better in a week or two without treatment. Antibiotics are effective only in the much smaller number of cases that involve the bacteria that cause gonorrhea or chlamydia.

3 ways you can treat pink eye without a doctor's appointment

Here is a guide to the different types of pink eye and what you can do to treat conjunctivitis.

Live Science

Pink eye is one of the most common ailments to affect both children and adults, according to the National Eye Institute (NEI). There are four main factors that can cause pink eye: an allergic reaction, a foreign substance in the eye, a viral infection or a bacterial infection.

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