About conjunctivitis

[Imeanlikeseriously]

My sister is meant to be coming over tomorrow and texted last night to say her DD has terrible conjunctivitis.

I've got a small baby and two toddler/preschoolers.

I really want to see my sister but I REALLY don't want my children to get conjunctivitis. Especially with Easter holidays coming up.

I don't know what to do as my options are to say ok fine or say I'm really sorry but don't come. Which would go down really badly. I'm already seen as incredibly uptight and I know this would be seen as me being really precious.

I really don't know what to do. I don't know much about conjunctivitis but am I right in thinking there's a pretty high likelihood of everyone getting it?

Separate towels, a tonne of cheapo baby wipes, a "hazardous" sign duck taped to said child.

Cancel! I caught conjunctivitis at Center Parcs a few weeks back and it was horrible - not worth risking the school holidays for!

I would cancel: it will be so difficult to "police" a 2 1/2 year-old and so unpleasant, especially for your Baby, if they get it. My 8 year-old had a mild case and was very diligent about hygiene and it was still an aggravation.

It's your choice. It is your child. You do not have to be bullied into seeing people with an infectious condition.

BUT can I just say that you should NOT buy OTC eye drops just in case. Not the antibiotic ones. Conjunctivitis rarely needs antibiotics. We really are getting into a pickle where it's going to end up antibiotic resistant in those cases where it really needs treating. It's self limiting and should be treated using home care. The NHS site is very specific about this but the message isn't getting through to pharmacists and GPs.

Ask her to define "terrible"? My 2 DC get conjunctivitis sometimes when they have a cold (snot getting rubbed in eyes- grim) and its not too bad just cleaned etc all good.

However DD caught bacterial conjunctivitis when she was 3 from another child at nursery and it was awful. She couldn't open her eyes at all at one point she was terrified and in so much pain. The GP had to sit and clean her eyes just so she could see them. seemed to take ages to be completely better, even with drops and antibiotics. So yeah if your sisters kids have it that bad I'd put off a visit tbh!

There are two types; one is highly infectious, the other is not.

It's not possible, without medical training, to diagnose which it is. Exclusion periods for Early Years are usually 24 hours after treatment has been started.

It can be very nasty, especially for contact lens users.

I'm currently treating my son with conjunctivitis at the moment. For the first 24hrs it is drops in eye every 2hrs and then it's drops every 4 hrs for next 5 days. You may have to do this X 3. Your call, but I know what I would be doing. Why can't you rearrange for another day?

Im sitting in out of hours GP right now with my 7 month old and his extremely gunky conjunctivitis eyes waiting to be seen. It's not fun when they're little or when you're a grown up, I'd reschedule for another weekend.

I'm hoping it's the first kind as the DD has such minimal contact with other kids.

They are pretty booked up with plans as they go to their second home a lot (eye roll). In any case even if they could do another day my desire to rearrange would be seen as really pathetic. I know I'm being a wimp but I'm not sure it's worth the aggro

Your call OP but for me its not worth it. I'm sure your sister would understand, its not fun being told don't come but sick kids are even less fun!

Have a look on the NHS website for information on it, that's the first thing I'd suggest for you to do as you admit you don't know much about it.

Second thing is I'd say there's no real need to cancel and conjunctivitis isn't a big deal but you will just need to ensure that thorough hand hygiene practices are carried out. But it's nothing to be unduly worried over OP