My 2 children have sore eyes and have discharge, what should I do?

Thank you for your question!

The term conjunctivitis encompasses any condition showing signs of inflammation, whether it is bacterial, viral, allergic or other. The vast majority of conjunctivitis is viral in origin and resolves itself in 5 to 7 days, like a cold. The main symptoms are red eyes, clear or whitish discharge, and a feeling of sand grains in the eye. Allergic conjunctivitis usually affects both eyes at the same time and may be accompanied by redness, itchy eyes/eye lids, and clear discharge, as well as other allergy symptoms such as sneezing or runny nose.

Bacterial conjunctivitis most often occurs with dark/green, purulent discharge.

It is important to wash your hands often and to avoid sharing towels and rubbing your eyes as you could pass the infection to the other eye or to someone else.

I invite you to consult your pharmacist by phone or in person: he/she will be able to personalize the questions to better assess the situation and suggest a treatment, if necessary, as well as follow up on the situation.

We hope this has been helpful and if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Tom Samaha, pharmacist