PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has issued guidelines regarding the management of conjunctivitis, following a surge in cases due to floods in the province, asking healthcare professionals to isolate patients, avoid administering antibiotics and ensuring children with infection stay home.

The doctors told Dawn that the eye problem, commonly known as pink eye, was “self-limiting” and took one week to go away.

They said the infection was highly contagious and was caused by a virus, usually an adenovirus, leading to eye irritation, light sensitivity and watery discharge.

The doctors said the symptoms of conjunctivitis were typically mild and self-limiting and that the recent surge in cases, especially following recent floods, required immediate action.

Asks DHOs, hospital chiefs, MTI directors to take measures to prevent spread of disease

According to a flood situation report released by the directorate-general (health services), 1,212 eye infections have been reported in the 11 flood-affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lately, with192 in the last 24 hours.

It said that 11,687 acute respiratory cases, including 1,773 in the last 24 hours, had been recorded, while the tally of acute diarrhea cases was 8,500, including 1,211 in the last 24 hours. The incidences of scabies, malaria and dog bites were also reported in visitors to health centres and 380 medical camps.

The department also circulated an advisory from the National Institute of Health Islamabad to all district health officers, hospital medical superintendents and directors of the medical teaching institutions for taking necessary measures to prevent and control the spread of the disease.

It said that the incubation period of conjunctivitis was up to 12 days, while its symptoms often began in one eye and quickly spread to the other.

According to it, the white area of the eye (sclera) becomes pink or red, with watery or pus-like discharge and other symptoms include a feeling of grittiness, swollen eyelids, and sensitivity to light (photophobia).The virus spreads very easily through contact with eye discharge from an infected person, contaminated hands, or shared personal items like towels, bedding, and makeup.There is no cure for viral conjunctivitis and it is usually cleared by itself. Symptoms may worsen for the first few days before gradually improving over one to two weeks, according to the advisory.

It added that the infected people could recover within days although the symptoms frequently worsened for the first three to five days, with gradual improvement over the following one to two weeks for a total course of two to three weeks.

The department said any person with a pink or red eye, excessive tearing and irritation, without any other obvious cause like an injury or contact lens use, should be considered a suspected case, especially if they were recently in contact with someone who had the infection.

“Management or treatment is focused on relieving symptoms as the infection usually resolves on its own within one to two weeks. To help ease discomfort, apply warm or cool compresses and use lubricating eye drops (artificial tears) but antibiotics weren’t effective against viral infections,” it said in the advisory.

The department, however, said serious patients or those whose condition didn’t improve should be referred to an ophthalmologist, while suspected ones should be isolated to prevent spreading the infection.

It urged people to wash hands frequently with soap for at least 20 seconds and use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water aren’t available.

The department also recommended avoiding touching face or rubbing eyes and sharing personal items like towels, pillows, handkerchiefs, makeup or eye drops with others and said children with conjunctivitis should not attend school or daycare until their symptoms vanish.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2025