What type of pink eye? Cancel Easter?? (parents, clothes, son)
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**I'm putting this post here because the Health & Wellness thread is super slow- if it needs to be moved let me know!
Background: My whole family was around my niece on 3/28, who had pink eye and a cold the beginning of March for 2 weeks. When we saw her she appeared to be totally fine but obviously NOT. Regretting that decision a lot
My youngest daughter (4) woke up this past Monday with a small glob of yellow goop in the corner of one eye and cold symptoms with a low-grade fever. Over the course of the day her eyelid started to swell and the skin under her eye became red. Tuesday she had small amounts of goop and her eye was turning pink. She then woke on Wednesday AM with goop/crust in both eyes so I took her to the pediatrician and he diagnosed bacterial pink eye based on the appearance of the discharge. Got the eye drops and started them immediately. Within 24 hours the symptoms for pink eye had subsided but she still has a cold. Unfortunately, this AM (Friday) she had a slight amount of crust/goop in her eyes but no redness.
My eldest daughter (5) woke up on Thursday AM with a high fever, headache and her stomach was upset. After sleeping and resting for several hours she was back to normal. By that evening, she had a large glob of yellow/green goop coming out of one eye and within a few hours her eye started to turn pink. I started to give her the Rx eye drops immediately and washing her eye. When she woke up in the middle of the night her eye was gooey so I washed it with water and then smeared coconut oil on it. She woke this AM (Friday) and her eye was a little gooey so I washed it and gave her the drops.
So here's my question: is it viral or bacterial?? I talked to my husband's cousin, whom is a Neuro-ophthalmologist and specializes in orbital surgery and SHE said it all sounds viral, especially given how it spread to my eldest daughter and with the presence of cold symptoms. But, after reading countless pages on the net and seeing pictures and accounts of both kinds, I'm inclined to believe that it IS bacterial, especially since the drops seem to be working and the symptoms are pretty much gone.
I'm also wondering when my children can be around people again- the pedi told me that my youngest can be around other people within 24 hours of starting the drops but I've been erring on the side of caution and have kept the 3 of us quarantined since Monday. Not to mention that I have been continuously disinfecting our house every-freaking-where and washing and changing sheets and towels daily. I feel like I'm going nuts from it all.
We're supposed to celebrate Easter with my family on Sunday and my other niece (not the one who was sick) and nephew will be there. I DO NOT want to spread this around by any means so I'm wondering if we should cancel and stay home?
I called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse and told her that everything seemed to be getting better except my youngest DD had a little discharge this AM; this is after all other symptoms basically disappearing after starting the eye drops. I also told her that my DD still has a cold and is stuffy- she told me that the discharge from this AM could just be the cold coming out of her eye now.
I called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse and told her that everything seemed to be getting better except my youngest DD had a little discharge this AM; this is after all other symptoms basically disappearing after starting the eye drops. I also told her that my DD still has a cold and is stuffy- she told me that the discharge from this AM could just be the cold coming out of her eye now.
This happens to my younger daughter often when she gets a cold. All of the virus manifests itself in her nasal cavities and then through her eyes. It looks a lot like pink eye but I have learned how to tell the difference.
You have several opinions from doctors and nurses regarding the risk level of contamination. I think that you just need to trust that. I don't think that anyone on this forum is qualified to tell you whether it is pink eye or not, or whether it is viral or not, or whether they are safe to go to Easter with others.
I would, however, let the other people know about your issues this week and what the professionals have said and let them decide if they want to risk it. Chances are you will all be ok based on what the docs are saying.
Hope it all turns out well for you and that you have a nice holiday!
When mine had pink eye I followed the Dr.'s advice. 24 hours of drops or antibiotics and they were good to go. This was also the protocol followed at their public schools.
Pink eye is easy. My D (old enough to not have had the shot) developed chicken pox in early Dec. one year. My son woke up on the last possible day he could show symptoms with it. It happened to be Christmas Eve. We changed our plans. Poor kid was scratching like crazy on Christmas.
^^Agreed. I work in a peds office, and we say 24 hrs on drops and the child is non-contagious, even if the eyes are still goopy. We also recommend that after the child has been on drops 24 hrs that you wipe down everything the child has touched (e.g. the whole house) with Clorox/Lysol type wipes. Pay special attention to car door handles, seat belt buckles and car seat buckles. A family in our practice had ping-ponging pink eye until they cleaned up the car. If the car seat has a washable cover, wash it, otherwise wipe it down. Also give special attention to light switches, door knobs and stuff that the kid(s) really get a grip on. Put all sheets, towels, washcloths and clothes the child(ren) has been wearing in the wash. Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. When you think you've washed them enough, wash them again, same for the kids.
My guess is if it's goopy, it's probably bacterial. Viral conjunctivitis is more clear.
Thank you everyone! It always helps to hear from other parents who've been through it- this is our 2nd time around in the last 3 years and it STINKS! What drives me nuts is that I am an OCD hand washer and now have pretty much made my kids like that, too, but it still doesn't matter, we're gonna get stuff just like everybody else. My niece is NOT a hand washer and neither is my SIL or the rest of her family and they are literally always sick with something- my SIL's words.
I totally forgot about the car, FallsAngel! I am headed out there now! LOL! I am running out of my jumbo Lysol wipes and spray so that gives you an idea on how much I've been cleaning. I haven't seen any goop since this AM so I hope we're okay- fingers crossed!
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