eye disorders
Infectious Conjunctivitis
Symptoms of Infectious Conjunctivitis
When infected, the conjunctiva becomes pink from dilated blood vessels, and a discharge appears in the eye. Often the discharge causes the person's eyes to stick shut, particularly overnight. This discharge may also cause the vision to blur. Vision improves when the discharge is blinked away. If the cornea is infected, vision also blurs but does not improve with blinking. Sometimes the eye feels irritated, and bright light may cause discomfort. Very rarely, severe infections that have scarred the conjunctiva lead to long-term vision difficulties. Viral conjunctivitis differs from bacterial conjunctivitis in the following ways: Eye discharge tends to be watery in viral conjunctivitis and thicker white, green, or yellow in bacterial conjunctivitis. An upper respiratory infection increases the likelihood of a viral cause. A lymph node in front of the ear may be swollen and painful in viral conjunctivitis but is usually not in bacterial conjunctivitis. These factors, however, cannot always accurately differentiate viral conjunctivitis from bacterial conjunctivitis. People with inclusion conjunctivitis or with conjunctivitis caused by gonorrhea often have symptoms of a genital infection, such as discharge from the penis or vagina and burning during urination. Conjunctivitis in the newborn causes inflammation of the eyelid and a discharge of pus. 