If you are experiencing conjunctivitis symptoms, it would be beneficial to test yourself for COVID-19. Like many medical conditions, there is an overlap between the types and symptoms one may experience, so seeing a medical provider is important. “We will ask questions such as when it started, which eyes are being affected, if the patient has other symptoms, recent exposure to sick people, and what kind of discharge there is,” he said. “The only way to truly distinguish between a viral conjunctivitis, like COVID, or allergies, or a bacterial conjunctivitis is an evaluation by an eye doctor using special dyes and equipment,” says Nicholas Onken, O.D., assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry. It can be a little bit challenging to tell the difference between viral and allergic conjunctivitis as seasonal allergies have arrived and they can result in similar symptoms. Viral and allergic can be very similar in that they have a clear tearing as well as itchiness of the eye. “As with other episodes of viral conjunctivitis, although this is bothersome, as it can with tearing and blurry vision for about a week or so, it will heal, and it seems to heal without consequence and no long-term impairment of vision or any other complication,” Schaffner told Healthline.Īlthough there are three main categories of conjunctivitis, bacterial, viral, and allergic, it is sometimes difficult to figure out which one you have.īacterial conjunctivitis includes discharge from the eye and oftentimes has a thick or crusted discharge on the eyelashes and within the eye. It can also give you the sensation of grittiness of the eyeball and itchiness. When it becomes inflamed, it results in tearing of the eye and possible blurring of vision.
This condition concerns the outside layer of the eye called the conjunctiva. Is a virus or allergies causing your conjunctivitis?Ĭonjunctivitis is irritation of the eye and the eyelid – oftentimes associated with viruses, allergies, or bacterial infections. Also, the other distinguishing feature is conjunctivitis or, as some people call it, pink eye.” “First, fever has not been a dominant feature of COVID, but it is with this strain. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “There are two distinctive characteristics of Arcturus,” says Dr. While many of the previous strains of COVID-19 have presented with classic symptoms of cough, congestion, body aches, and loss of smell, there is a new strain called Arcturus, which can present with a novel symptom – conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye.
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