How Long Is Pink Eye Contagious?

how long is pink eye contagious

Thinking about a healthy body nowadays can scare you out because it takes too much to move towards a holistic health approach to life. It is an amazing task to pull over and has several obstacles. There can be bacterial infections, allergies, fungal infections, and viral diseases also. But there are some diseases which can be caused due to all four of them. One such disease is pink eye or conjunctivitis. 

Here are the complete details about how long is pink eye contagious, the causes, symptoms, and treatment of the pink eye.

 

Know About Pink Eye 

Before knowing how long is pink eye contagious, let’s know what pink eye is all about. Pink eye or conjunctivitis is the inflammation of the conjunctiva where the eye becomes pink in colour due to the inflammation. This inflammation can occur due to allergies, bacterial infections, or viral infections. The other person might get infected through the infected eye secretion. This kind of inflammation can force you to wear goggles, and it doesn’t look good aesthetically, too, as your one eye is always reddish-pink.

how long is pink eye contagious

What Causes Pink Eyes?

Pink eye can be caused by the following given factors. It will be easier for you not to get in touch with any of these causes and play safe. 

  • Chemicals: Any harmful chemicals like makeup products, soaps, or shampoos can create this disorder in your eye. There is irritation at the beginning, and a painful, eye-opening procedure then follows. Any kind of eye drop which causes redness in your eye, you must not use it.
  • Foreign Body: It must have happened to almost everyone that while you are walking through a dusty area, the dust sometimes falls in your eyes and contaminates your conjunctiva, making it reddish and inflamed. There is a watery eye symptom commonly recorded. Sometimes your own eyelashes can be the foreign body causing inflammation. If one of your eyelashes falls and sticks to your sclera, it causes redness in the eye.
  • Allergy: Some people are allergic to several factors like pollen, sand, and a lot more to mention. These, when getting in touch with your conjunctiva, it causes allergic-like symptoms, including pink eye. 
  • Blocked Tear Duct: This factor is commonly noted in infants. The blocked tear duct is responsible for the development of conjunctivitis, causing inflamed and pink eye in the newborn. 
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Types of Conjunctivitis

There are three types of conjunctivitis based on the microorganisms. Those are:

  • Bacterial conjunctivitis: Bacterias are the major cause of conjunctivitis. Bacteria, when they start to accumulate in the eye, there is irritation as well as secretions observed. Bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are responsible for causing conjunctivitis.
  • Viral Conjunctivitis: Multiple times when you diagnose an inflamed eye, it can be due to a viral infection. Organisms like herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, and the most common adenovirus are the ones that cause pink eye and irritation like symptoms. In simple cough and cold also, your eyes get watery and inflamed, but that is not conjunctivitis, do not mix them up.
  • Fungal Conjunctivitis: The yeast Candida albicans are the most common fungi that are responsible for causing conjunctivitis. This kind of information is generally caused after a trauma. If a tree stick or bark hits your eye, you have a greater chance to develop conjunctivitis. 

how long is pink eye contagious

Symptoms Of A Pink Eye

There are several symptoms which are commonly observed in all kinds of conjunctivitis. Most of them are mentioned below: 

  • Dryness
  • Itchiness
  • Watery Eyes
  • Inflammation
  • Redness
  • Puffy eyes
  • Swelling
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Runny nose
  • Sneezing
  • Congestion
  • Headaches due to eye infection

 

How Long Is Pink Eye Contagious?

When it comes to how long a pink eye is contagious, the answer is 3 to 7 days. The eye looks inflamed and red, as told earlier. The eye secretions are the ones which make these diseases contagious. For example, if an infected person is using a handkerchief to clear his eye, you must not even touch it to avoid contamination. Thus, keeping yourself safe is your responsibility. Avoid being in touch with the people who are contaminated and try not to use any cloth they are using while in their infectious period. 

 

Diagnosis 

Investigation of any crime or any disease is a must. When it comes to disease, doctors perform a diagnosis which is based on the conversation of the patient and the doctor. In the case of conjunctivitis or pink eye, the general questions that a doctor must ask are: 

  • How did you get an inflamed eye?
  • Since how many days have you been facing these symptoms?
  • What were the medications you were taking till now? 
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After these questions are asked, some laboratory tests are done to confirm which type of conjunctivitis it must be. 

Here, swab tests are performed. A cotton swab is rolled over the sclera of the eye. The secretions are collected over the cotton of the swab. This sample taken is then cultured in the laboratory to know which causative organism is responsible for your pink eye. 

how long is pink eye contagious

Treatment 

The treatment includes antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory drugs. They are given in the form of eye tubes, eye drops and very few in the form of tablets. 

 

Prevention 

Prevention is very important when it comes to conjunctivitis. Some of the must-take preventions are:

  • Immunity: Keep your immunity strong by taking a good diet. Drink juices and have fruits to keep yourself healthy. Strong immunity decreases the chance of you getting any sort of disease.
  • Irritant Free Environment: When you know that you are allergic to dust or pollen, you must be inside an irritant-free environment.
  • Regular Wash: Wash your eyes regularly with tap water and tap to dry them and do not rub your eyes hard. 
  • Chemical Free: Try to use chemical-free soaps, makeup or shampoos to avoid any kind of eye infection.

 

Summing Up

These were the information about how long is pink eye contagious, and the prevention and treatment of the pink eye. So now that you know how long pink eyes can be contagious, you must keep yourself away and safe from this disease. It is important to live a healthy as well as energetic life.