The massive outbreak of eye infections has closed 56,000 schools in Pakistan.
A viral pink-eye epidemic, also called conjunctivitis, is affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan. As the country has suffered summer heat waves and record rainfall in recent months, this contagious disease has been steadily spreading. Health authorities in Pakistan face major challenges in containing this highly contagious pathogen, which appears to thrive in humid conditions.
Since the beginning of the year, nearly 400,000 people in Pakistan have been infected with viral conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye. The outbreak peaked last week, with more than 10,000 cases in one day in Punjab province on Saturday and 13,000 new cases on Tuesday.
Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the mucous membrane that covers the front of the eye and the eyelids. It can be caused by bacteria or viruses, and the current outbreak in Pakistan is believed to be caused by a highly contagious virus.
“Many different types of viruses can cause viral conjunctivitis (including the COVID-19 virus). However, the majority, up to 75 percent, of infectious conjunctivitis is caused by adenovirus,” says Isabelle Jalbert, professor of optometry and eye science at UNSW Sydney. , Australia, narrated Newsweek. “It appears that the outbreak in Pakistan involves a highly contagious form of the virus.”
According to The TelegraphMore than 56,000 schools in Pakistan closed their doors for four days due to an outbreak of viral conjunctivitis.
Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said closures are only a temporary solution and will not work in the long term.
“I suspect there are many more outbreaks like this that are going unreported,” he told the Telegraph.
“Closing schools may temporarily reduce the spread of adenoviruses, but transmission is likely to increase again when schools reopen.”
