Infectious Eye Disease

Infectious eye disease includes infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Some infections can be serious, so see your eye doctor right away for proper care if you think you might have an eye infection.

Conjunctivitis

• Conjunctivitis (pink eye) is a common, highly contagious eye infection often spread among children. Either viruses or bacteria can cause conjunctivitis.

Eye Herpes

• The type 1 herpes simplex virus causes three types of eye herpes (ocular herpes): herpes keratitis (most common), iridocyclitis, and stromal keratitis. Symptoms include inflammation of the cornea, pain, swelling, tearing, irritation, sensation of something in the eye, redness, sores, watery discharge, and sensitivity to light.

Fungal Infections

• Some contact lens solutions have been linked to fungal eye infections resistant to treatment. To address safety concerns, the FDA recommended stricter labeling and testing requirements for contact lens solutions.

Treatment

• The treatment for most bacterial eye infections is antibiotic eye drops or ointments. Many common viral eye infections clear up by themselves, although severe ones may require an antiviral eye drop.

Considerations

• The best way to avoid infectious eye disease is to avoid touching your eyes or to make sure anything that does touch your eyes is clean.