Hygiene and Prompt Treatment Important

Ethan Gough

Prevention of pink eye is partly by hand washing and treatment depends on the underlying cause.  In the majority of viral cases, there is no specific treatment; however, most cases resulting from a bacterial infection will resolve without treatment.

Dr. Ethan Gough, Epidemiologist

“What you can do as an individual to protect yourself is practice proper hand hygiene.  So wash your hands regularly.  If you have someone in your home that is infected with or has conjunctivitis we ask that you be careful about sharing linens, towels, just objects that can become contaminated themselves and that can then contaminate or infect other people in the home that have not been infected yet.  So, just proper hand hygiene and sanitation and being careful to make sure that the opportunities for transmission in the home are minimized.”

Reporter

“What’s the treatment and then also the period of recovery?”

Dr. Ethan Gough

“So, in terms of the treatment, just encourage anyone with signs or symptoms to seek medical care and the physician will advise them as to the appropriate treatment.  In terms of the time for recovery, it varies a bit depending on whether it’s viral or bacterial and we’re not totally sure yet, but maybe about a week or so.  But it can depend on what the pathogen is that’s causing the infection.”