Newborn Conjunctivitis- Chloramphenicol?

[EllieCG]

Hi there, I have a 3 weeks old that has had sticky eyes for the last two weeks. I was told to keep it clean and use breast milk in it, I’ve done this but as soon as one clears the other eye starts again. Took him to the drs last week and the swabs came back saying it’s bacterial and he’s been prescribed chloramphenicol eye drops.

I’m a little anxious as he’s so young (he was 3 weeks early too). Has anyone else used these on newborns?

Hi There EllieCG,

We're really sorry to hear your DS is poorly - we would always advice seeking real life medical advice (which you've done) but we wanted to hop on and say hello.

Hopefully we've given this thread a bump for you now so some of our users should be along shortly with some support.

We hope your DS gets well soon.

I have and shared your concern. I also couldn't really get the drops in as I was scared as he was so tiny at 10 days old. He had multiple eye infections with numerous antibiotics, drops and eye creams prescribed until he was about 8 months old and then it just stopped. Suspected blocked tear duct. I used to use sterile cooled boiled water and cotton wool to gentle sweep away from inner eye on advice of HV. It was a nightmare but did stop and he doesn't have any problem with his eyes now.,

The big advantage of topical eye drops (and skin creams etc. for that matter,) is that they achieve their effects locally with very little absorption into the body, so side effects are extremely uncommon. Having a serious untreated eye infection can have very bad consequences so Paediatricians and Ophthalmologists would be happy using them even on seriously premature babies.
It is reassuring that they do clear up rather than remaining completely established though. As has been mentioned newborn tear ducts are tiny and prone to blocking off just from normal debris.

Hi I was just wondering if it ended up being ok for him to use ? Was worried myself

Hiya, I used them on him and he was thankfully fine with it. He did still have a problem after the initial 5 day course so the dr suggested to do another 7 day course. This pretty much cleared it up and any further less severe sticky eyes I just managed with cooled boiled water cotton pads followed by breast milk. They are such a worry these little ones.. (mine is now almost 3! 🙈) xx