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Pinkeye Timeline: When Is It Safe to Resume School?
Read my previous blog entry to discover how to identify the most common types of pinkeye.
During the period of active viral infection the disease is highly contagious. Improper/absent hand washing is most frequently blamed for pinkeye transmission. Contaminated fingertips inoculate surfaces and other people.
Elementary schools and daycare centers are very sensitive to problems caused by a pinkeye breakout - mostly because if a teacher contracts pinkeye other staff will need to double-up to cover the absence.
Truth be told, like other viral infections, the contagiousness of pinkeye is at its peak long before the child's eye becomes inflamed. Forced quarantine at home does little on Day 3 or 4 of the infection. In order to be effective, school nurses would have to be psychic and know which students will develop pinkeye in the preceding days. Given that skill, they ought to be buying lottery tickets!
School systems and daycare organizations have developed all kinds of stay-at-home policies for children with pinkeye. Most are modeled after a bacterial epidemic - so long as you are making pus you likely remain contagious. Unfortunately, most cases of pinkeye are viral and behave differently. WebMD is not going to challenge the bureaucracy - just know that by Day 5 the child with viral pinkeye is no longer contagious.
Don't be too concerned about redness. This is hyperemia, inflamed tissues that persist long after the virus has departed. The eye might appear pink/red for another week.
As always, contact your family physician if your child exhibits atypical pinkeye symptoms that alarm you: eye pain, severe redness, excessive discharge, drop in visual acuity.
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: pinkeye, conjunctivitis, vision
