Is this conjunctivitus?

[mckenzie]

DD (5 montsh old) has had a weepy left eye since birth and has one episode of it getting gungy which was treated with somehting from the doctor. These last few dasy it's been weeping again but I put it down to her having a cough and cold. This morning though she woke up and could hardly open her eye it was so gungy, yellowy and quite thick, stuck to her eye lashes as well. She had more after her lunchtime sleep too. I've got some drops now from the chemist but I'm a bit concerned about the fact that the area around her eye is very red, the skin underneath for example and to the side is very red and a bit inflamed I think.

Typically i can't get a doctors appt until tuesday. Any ideas if the redness and slight inflamation might mean that it's something else?

TIA

[KBear]

If you tell them it's her eye they shouldn't make you wait until Tuesday. Insist!

[WigWamBam]

Agree with KBear, they should see a baby as an emergency.

If she's breastfed, try squirting a little expressed breast milk into her eye, that can really help.

[gingernut]

Viral conjunctivitis causes redness, see here for some really nasty photos.

here is a factsheet which may be useful too.

I too think you need to push the doctors for an emergency appointment. I wouldn't use the drops from the chemist for now just clean the eye with cool boiled water with some salt added to it.

[LilacLotus]

my DD had similar symptoms and nhs direct told me to ring the surgery even though it was a saturday morning. the doctor told us to come in straight away. it was conjunctivitus and eye drops cleared it up easily. also, if it is conjunctivitus, remember that this is highly contagious.
hope you can see a doctor soon.

[Littlefish]

I agree with Lilaclotus. My dd had exactly the same thing at about 12 weeks old. We got an emergency appointment and were given antibiotic eye drops. It's v contagious, so needs sorting out straight away. BTW my GP told me that some children get it everytime they get a cold.... oh poo!

[mckenzie]

thank you all very much for the messages. I shall call the doctors again first thing in the morning.

[SofiaAmes]

My ds had the same thing when he was 8 or 9 months and I waited way too long to take him in and when I finally did (it had spread to both eyes) I took him straight to a paediatric casulty and they told me off for waiting so long and said it's really dangerous and could have damaged his eyes. He was given antibiotics.

[KBear]

Did you get an appointment McKenzie? How is DD today?

[mckenzie]

They did suggest that i came in friday morning for 'open' surgery but be prepared for a lengthy wait as there was only one doctor on so I decided to go bright and early this morning and queue up outside to be one of the first. Unfortunately, it was pouring down this morning and the thought of standing outside in the rain with DS and DD on a very main road for 30 minutes didn't seem like the right thing to do. I've checked again today twice in case of any cancellations for this afternoon but no go. I'm now about to take DD to Boots to see what the pharmacist there says. If necessary, it's be a trip to the out of hours surgery at the hospital if the pharmacist thinks it's that bad.

[mckenzie]

and thanks for asking Kbear. DD doesn't seem that bothered by it, only when I try and wipe her eye which i do as gently as I possibly can. It's more closed up today though and the skin looks just as red. DD in herself though is happy and feeding well.

[mckenzie]

well, we went to the chemist this afternoon and he said to definitely see a doctor so called the surgery yet again and they gave me an appointment for 5.20. After a rather long wait we saw a foreigh locum at 6.15pm! He hasn't instilled a huge amount of confidence in me as he kept referring to books but nonetheless he's diagnosed conjunctivitus and because of the extra swelling and redness underneath and around her eye he's prescribed antibiotics as well as the regular drops.
DD is still not bothered by it until I start to clean her eye or give her the drops - lets hope it clears up quickly though before DS catches it!

I know I have to keep DD away from creche etc while she has this and I'm guessing no swimming as well but can we still go to public places, just as long as she doesn't touch other children's toys etc?

[gingernut]

Yes, I would still go out as long as she isn't in close contact with others. Glad you got seen in the end.

[mckenzie]

thanks gingernut. I think most people will keep well away from us anyway once they see DD's eye. Bless her, it really does look a mess.

Has anyone else's child had this swelling and redness with conjunctivitus? when DS had it, it was purely just the discharge and nothing else.

[gingernut]

In children, I've only ever seen just the discharge, which is typical of bacterial conjunctivitis. That's why I wondered about viral conjunctivitis. Had a friend with this and her eyes looked very red but I don't remember swelling. That's why I thought you should see someone. Did you look at any of the photos in the link? AFAIK there is no specific treatment for viral conjunctivitis (as for most viral infections).

What have you been prescribed? I presume the doctor thought she had a bacterial infection since he presribed antibiotics.

[mckenzie]

the drops are called Fucithalmic 1% and the medicine is Fluclaxocillin.
You sound like you are a medical person gingernut, yes?

[gingernut]

I'm not a medical doctor but have a background in biomedical science and used to work for a pharma company. So you've been given antibiotic eye drops and oral antibiotics. Can you see any improvement yet? You should be by now if it is bacterial.

[WigWamBam]

Mckenzie, my dd has had several bouts of conjunctivitis, and each time her eye and the area around it gets very hot, red and swollen, too. She usually has the antibiotic drops, which start to work really quickly.

I hope she's feeling better really soon - it's reall nasty for them.

[mckenzie]

thanks gingernut and wigwambam.
I did think that it looked a bit better tonight but told myself not to be so stupid, the medicine couldn't work that quickly! But it can then, can it? That's very good news. DD was quite unhappy at times today (after me saying that she seemed fine in herself). If she's like it again tomorrow can i give her some calpol to ease any discomfort do you think?

[WigWamBam]

I would, to be honest.

[gingernut]

Yes, there should be a visible improvement pretty quickly although it may take a while to clear completely. Agree with WWB, no harm in giving her Calpol.

[mckenzie]

DD's eye definitely looks better this morning although we had a hell of a night with her (not sur if related to the eye at all or more to do with her having a bit of mashed up cooked apple for the first time.)
Fingers crossed she keeps on improving though. About to try and give her another dose of medicine by myself as DH at work. Wish me luck!

[mckenzie]

well I managed the medicine okay but her eye looks quite bad and yukky again and yet we've been very scrupulous with the drops and keeping it clean etc.

[WigWamBam]

Take her back to the GP if it's not getting any better, just in case it's not bacterial conjunctivitis.

You can get little syringes from the pharmacist that make giving medicine to babies much easier.

[gingernut]

How is your dd doing mckenzie?

[mckenzie]

hi gingernut. I took her back monday morning as it was getting worse and saw a different doctor and he has changed her drops. Unfortunately it means instead of one drop twice a day it's now 2 drops every 3 hours but the eye is definitely better (whether because of the change of drops I'll never know really). The swelling is almost all gone and the redness has gone, just still some discharge though. We'll keep giving her the drops for a few more days yet though and i'm keeping her away from her swimming lesson tomorrow as I'd hate for her to get the infection back or even worse, give it to some other poor baby. She's much much better in herself though now which was my biggest concern.
Thanks for asking.