Adenoviral Conjunctivitis Of The Eye - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Adenoviral conjunctivitis of the eye

Adenoviral conjunctivitis is an infectious lesion of the conjunctiva of the visual organs. A person's body temperature rises, rhinitis develops, and sore throat occurs.

It is caused by various types of adenoviruses and manifests itself as eye damage. It is accompanied by severe tearing, redness of the eyes, swelling of the eyes and eyelids, pain, burning sensation, and a foreign body sensation in the eye. The infection can be transmitted by airborne droplets or get on the mucous membranes of the eyes when it comes into contact with the eyes of dirty hands, on which there is a virus.

Most often, children suffer from conjunctivitis of adenoviral nature. This is due to the insufficient formation of hygiene skills. The infection enters the organs of vision along with dirty hands. If treatment is delayed, this can lead to serious complications. Therapy should be comprehensive. It comes down to the use of antiviral and antibacterial drugs.

Content:

• Causes of adenoviral conjunctivitis
• Symptoms of adenoviral conjunctivitis
• Diagnostics of the adenoviral conjunctivitis
• Treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis

Causes of adenoviral conjunctivitis

Adenoviral conjunctivitis is highly contagious. Often, due to this viral infection, massive epidemic outbreaks are observed. The disease is spreading especially actively in children's organized groups. Acute periods are observed in autumn and spring.

In adults, adenoviral conjunctivitis manifests itself due to the ingestion of the causative agent of the disease. Each viral particle has its own DNA. This is its hallmark. The diameter of adenoviruses does not exceed 90 nm. The shape of the virus is represented by a sphere.

Adenoviruses show sufficient resistance in the external environment. However, at a temperature of +50 ° C, viruses die. Products containing phenol and chloramine can destroy their structure.

Once in the tissues of a living organism, viruses begin to multiply actively. They damage the cells of their host, provoking the breakdown of their chromatin and the destruction of the nucleoli. More than 40 virus serotypes are known to date. However, conjunctivitis is most often caused by strains numbered 4, 6, 7, 10. Subtypes of viruses 3, 7a, and 11 lead to massive outbreaks of the disease.

The infection is transmitted by airborne droplets. A contact mechanism for the spread of the virus is also implemented. The disease is transmitted from one person to another through talking, sneezing, coughing. Children become infected through dirty hands, by touching the face and eyes.

Separately, it is necessary to highlight the risk factors that contribute to the development of the disease:

• Hypothermia of the body.
• Hygiene errors.
• Poor care for lenses and glasses.
• Eyeball trauma.
• Surgical manipulations on the organs of vision.

Adenoviral conjunctivitis can occur in a membranous form, catarrhal and follicular type. Children are most often diagnosed with a filmy type of conjunctivitis.

Immunity after a previous illness develops only to a specific serotype of the virus.

Symptoms of adenoviral conjunctivitis

From the time period when the infection happened and until the first manifestations of the disease, it takes about 5-7 days. However, sometimes this period is reduced to 3 days. Adults carry adenoviral conjunctivitis more easily than children. At the same time, the symptoms of the disease do not differ between them.

The onset of the disease always resembles a cold. A person's body temperature rises, sore throat bothers, the nose clogs up, a runny nose develops. The patient complains of a headache, the stool may become liquid.

Lymph nodes increase in size, respond with pain. After 2-3 days, the first symptoms of conjunctivitis appear. First, 1 eye becomes inflamed, but the infection quickly spreads to the second organ of vision. The eyelids become swollen and red. The discharge can be either serous or purulent. Lacrimation increases, in bright light, the eyes respond with pain. There is a feeling that a foreign body has got into them. The eyes itch, itch, the whites can turn yellow.

Adenoviral conjunctivitis can occur in 3 forms.

Each of them is characterized by certain symptoms:

• Filmy conjunctivitis. This form of the disease is typical for childhood. Thin films form in the eyes that cover the mucous membrane of the organ of vision. These films can be easily removed with a cotton swab. They are grayish in color, transparent and not durable. If the films become denser, this may indicate that fibrin accumulates in them. They stick to the conjunctiva and are very difficult to remove. When trying to do this, mucous membranes are injured. This course of the disease is associated with the risk of scar tissue formation. However, this does not happen often. Mostly damage to the mucous membrane of the eye is limited to minor hemorrhages. Over time, they pass on their own. The membranous form of adenoviral conjunctivitis is accompanied by an increase in body temperature, the intoxication of the body increases, which can continue for a long time.
• Catarrhal form of adenoviral conjunctivitis. With this type of infectious process, the conjunctiva of the eye turns red, but the secret is secreted in small quantities. The disease lasts no longer than a week, rarely combined with any complications.
• Follicular form of conjunctivitis. Multiple bubbles appear on the mucous membranes of the eye, they will be filled with a transparent liquid. Rashes appear on the eyelids, on the transitional fold. The mucous membrane of the organs of vision is loosened.

The disease can be complicated by the addition of bacterial flora, dry eye syndrome, keratitis, otitis media and tonsillitis. However, they are not often registered. Complications are associated with the fact that the treatment of adenovirus infection was started late.

The average duration of the illness is 2 weeks. If the treatment was of high quality and complete, then recovery can come faster.

Diagnostics of the adenoviral conjunctivitis

The acute form of the disease is diagnosed by an ophthalmologist. The doctor makes a diagnosis based on the examination of the patient. It visualizes the main manifestations of infection: swelling of the eyelids, redness of the mucous membranes, discharge from the eyes. The patient will have swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor may prescribe the following laboratory tests:

• ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). This test allows you to detect the titer of antibodies in the blood that are produced against a specific infectious agent. With adenoviral conjunctivitis, these values increase by 4 times. However, this technique cannot be classified as urgent. With adenovirus infection, blood sampling will need to be carried out 2 times: at an early stage of the development of the disease and after its completion.
• REEF. This method allows you to quickly identify the causative agent of the disease. For analysis, a smear is taken from the conjunctiva.
• PCR. The technique is aimed at detecting the DNA molecule of a pathogenic organism. It is isolated from a smear taken from the conjunctiva. To carry out the analysis, doctors will need sophisticated equipment. The method is expensive, so it is rarely used for adenoviral conjunctivitis.
• Bacterial examination of the discharge from the conjunctiva. It makes it possible to determine the bacterial flora that may accompany an adenovirus infection. It will take about a week to get the result.

The symptoms of adenoviral conjunctivitis are similar to those of bacterial inflammation. The treatment of these two pathologies is different, which is why it is so important to accurately diagnose. With improperly selected therapy, the likelihood of developing severe complications, up to and including loss of vision, increases. It is impossible to try to determine the disease on your own and begin to treat it. When the first signs of inflammation appear, you need to consult a specialist.

It is important to carry out differential diagnosis of adenoviral conjunctivitis with glaucoma, iritis, keratitis, episcleritis. Also conjunctivitis can be fungal, herpetic, bacterial, chlamydial. At the same time, the clinical course of the listed inflammatory reactions often resembles adenoviral conjunctivitis.

Treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis

For the treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis, an integrated approach will be required. The patient is prescribed local and systemic therapy, and the patient's age does not matter. In addition to antiviral drugs, antibiotics can be used. They are used when the disease is complicated by a microbial infection.

Ophthalmologists prescribe eye drops. The drugs of choice are: Interferon, Tobrex, Poludan, Vitabakt. On the first day of treatment, they are buried very often (up to 8 times per day). When there is an improvement, the number of installations is reduced to 3-4. To relieve the symptoms of the disease, it may be necessary to use an artificial tear drop, for example, Vidisik, Oftagel.

Inside, antihistamines are taken. If a bacterial infection joins, then the therapy is supplemented with bacterial drops or ointments.

In addition to damage to the organs of vision, the patient develops rhinitis, a sore throat appears. Therefore, the patient is prescribed immunomodulatory drugs. They are aimed at strengthening the body's defenses, allowing the immune system to better fight a viral infection.

In addition, it is important to direct efforts to prevent the spread of infection among healthy family members.

To this end, the following activities are being implemented:

• The patient is isolated in a separate room. The room must be ventilated at least 2 times a day. If a person does not react well to bright light, then it is recommended to curtain the windows.
• The patient should use separate dishes, personal hygiene products, and a towel.
• After contact with a patient, hands should be washed with soap.
• Drops should be instilled into the eyes with an individual pipette. The patient should use his own scarf, cotton pads and other accessories. Bed linen is recommended to be washed at high temperatures and ironed.

If a case of adenovirus infection was registered in kindergarten, then the child is isolated from healthy children. The group carries out wet cleaning, the room is ventilated.

You should always follow the rules of hygiene. The ophthalmologist should use only sterile instruments that should be carefully handled. Since adenoviruses are able to survive not only in air, but also in water, you should only swim in those pools that undergo high-quality treatment.

If a person receives adequate treatment for the disease, then the body will be able to cope with the infection in 10-12 days. The disease rarely recurs. As a rule, the prognosis for recovery is as favorable as possible.

Adenovirus infection requires a professional approach to treatment. Therefore, when the first symptoms of the disease appear, it is necessary to contact an ophthalmologist.

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".