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The information provided by The Pediatric Group, PLLC website is information of a general nature and is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be relied on for personal medical reasons and should not be relied upon as providing specific medical advice or for diagnosis or treatment. All information contained on this website is presented as is, without any warranties of any kind, express or implied.
Please note that visiting this website alone does not establish a physician-patient relationship with any physician engaged by The Pediatric Group, PLLC. You should consult your own physician for specific advice for your own personal situation.
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Eye Infections , Bacterial ("Pink Eye")
 Definition: A bacterial eye infection causes
redness
of the sclera (the white part of the eyeball) plus a yellow
discharge. Frequently the child wakes up in the morning with her
eyelashes matted together with dried pus. The infection is caused
by bacteria, is a common complication of a cold, is not harmful to the
eye, and will clear up with treatment. The yellow discharge
should resolve in about 3 days. The red eyes may persist for
several more days.
Contagious: Eye infections such as this are very
contagious if the pus from the infected child is transferred to another
person. The sick child should not share her washcloth or towel
with another family member. Your child should be encouraged to
keep his hands away from his eyes. Frequent hand washing for
every family member is especially important, and each person should use
their own towel to dry hands; do not use a common hand towel.
Your child is no longer contagious and may return to school or day care
after using eye drops for 24 hours if the pus is minimal.
Treatment: Your child’s doctor may
call in a prescription for antibiotic eye drops. Administer the
drops as directed on the prescription label. You should continue
giving your child the eye drops until he has awakened for 2 mornings
without any dried matter in the eyes. If the medication is
stopped too soon, the infection will likely come back.
To administer the drops, pull down the lower lid of the eye and place
the appropriate number of drops (as directed on the prescription) in
the lower lid.
Home Care:
- Remove the dried and liquid pus (yellow discharge)
from the eye with warm water and wet cotton balls. If this is not
done before administering the
antibiotic eye drops, the eye drops will not work. You should do this
as often as pus is seen in the
eye, sometimes as often as every hour.
- Children who wear contact lenses will need to
switch to glasses temporarily to prevent damage to the cornea (the
clear part of the eye).
Call our office during regular office hours if:
- Your child experiences changes in her vision (persistent
blurriness).
- Your child develops an elevated temperature.
- You observe any sores on the eyeball.
- Your child blinks or tears up continuously.
- The infection has not begun to improve by 72 hours (3 days).
Call our office urgently if:
- Your child develops a fever over 104°F and/or redness
spreads onto the skin surrounding the eyeball (onto the cheek and
eyebrow).
Another condition similar to eye infection:
One fairly common condition in newborns that can be
confused with pink
eye is a plugged tear duct in the eye (“lacrimal duct
stenosis”).
This condition generally starts in the first month of life and may
continue for up to a year. The white part of the eyeball (the
sclera) is not red, but there may be a lot of watery or mucousy
drainage from the eye, usually only on one side.
This condition should be treated by massaging the skin along the side
of the nose, starting from the eye down, with a warm washcloth.
You can obtain more information about this condition by calling our
triage nurse during regular office hours.
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