How can you prevent infection?

As an affected person, one can reduce or at best prevent the risk of infection of others by generally keeping some distance from other people. Also the observance of basic hygiene measures contributes to the reduction of the risk of infection. These include thoroughly washing the hands with soap when the eye has been touched.

The towel should only be used once and not by any other person. The same applies to washcloths, pillows, eye drops, pipettes or other objects in contact with the eye. For example, kaleidoscopes or other toys for children, and cameras, binoculars or cosmetics for adults.

Also, the single use of a handkerchief, which is disposed of immediately, minimizes further infection. Contact between hands and eyes should be kept to a minimum. If you are uncertain, you can also minimise the risk of infection by obtaining information, for example on the website of the Robert Koch Institute. The following hygiene measures should be observed if you suffer from contagious conjunctivitis:

Avoid rubbing your eyes
Hand disinfection
Use your own towel, ideally disposable tissues
No handshaking

How long is conjunctivitis contagious?

How long a conjunctivitis is contagious depends on the pathogen and the individual immune system of the person affected. Subjectively, the affected person can only roughly estimate this. The doctor can detect the pathogen by taking a smear in the eye secretion.

As long as it is found there, conjunctivitis is contagious. This also means that the risk of infection begins before the symptoms occur, in the so-called incubation period. Usually the risk of infection of a bacterial conjunctivitis lasts, without antibiotic administration, between 1-2 weeks.

In some cases, for example, when the immune system is weakened or when the pathogen spreads, the risk of infection can be prolonged. After starting antibiotics in bacterial infections, there is normally no longer a risk of infection after about 2 days. Depending on the doctor’s recommendations, children can return to kindergarten or school after this time.

As viruses do not have their own metabolism, as is the case with bacteria, it is more difficult to combat viruses with medication. There are fewer points of attack to contain the viruses and thus their danger of infection. Accordingly, the duration of infection is often longer in viral conjunctivitis compared to bacterial infections. A conjunctivitis caused by adenoviruses has an incubation period of 5-12 days and can be contagious for up to 2 weeks after the onset of symptoms. Here, special attention must be paid to the observance of hygiene measures.

Administration of antibiotics for infectious conjunctivitis

Only conjunctivitis caused by bacteria or viruses is contagious. If there is another cause, such as an allergy, or external circumstances, such as dust, smoke, draughts or foreign bodies, conjunctivitis is not contagious. Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, so they are only used if the conjunctivitis is caused by bacteria.

It is usually sufficient to apply antibiotic-containing eye drops or eye ointments locally. These can contain different groups of antibiotics, for example aminoglycosides or gyrase inhibitors. This kills the bacteria in the eye and the conjunctivitis should heal.

If resistant bacteria are present, it may be necessary to use a different antibiotic. In pregnant women, care should be taken to use an antibiotic that is absorbed by the body only to a small extent, i.e. if possible it should not be transmitted to the unborn child. Gentamycin is best suited for this. or eye drops for conjunctivitis