Editorial by Ghanaian Times: All eye infections need particular attention

It is not surprising that there is an outbreak of Acute Haemorrhagic Conjuncti­vitis (AHC), an eye infection otherwise known as Apollo, in the country currently, which the Ghana Optometric Association (GOA) has confirmed.

Having its first outbreak in the country in 1969 associated with the US’s Apollo 11 spaceflight that first landed humans on the moon in July 1969, the infection is claimed to be recurring in the country before or during its rainy season.

In fact, ScienceDirect, a journal and also a website, states that AHC appeared to emerge as a new disease in 1969 with explosive, pandemic spread from simultaneous foci in Ghana and Indonesia before ultimately spreading to many countries by 1973.

The annual seasonal occur­rence of the AHC and the fact that it affects hundreds of thou­sands of people in the country should have put the people on the alert, yet it seems that is not the case.

Probably, it is because the public knows that the disease lasts only 3–5 days and resolves without adverse effects.

Besides, it is obvious the public lacks knowledge of what harm it can cause when it becomes acute so the experts should come in with timely information about such knowledge to let people know if there are long-term adverse effects of the AHC.

But even if there are no such long-term effects, the short-term effects are costly enough for the public to heed the advice by the GOA that individuals suspecting cases of AHC seek professional care to prevent the spread and possible complications from the infection.

It is difficult to comprehend that the AHC is normally recognised by the affected individual upon waking up and realising that the eyelids have stuck together, requiring great effort to separate them.

The other symptoms include intense whitish mucous-like dis­charge throughout the day with the eye having a reddish hue.

The patient also experiences other forms of discomfort such as pain which becomes worse upon looking up or at the light, sore eyes, feeling of grittiness or burning and swelling of eyelids.

The result is that the patient gets a false feeling of a foreign body (sand) on the eye; experiences blurry vision and inability to do near work comfortably; and has to cover the eyes with the palm to limit the amount of light entering it.

Once affected, the patient is advised to stay away from crowded areas to limit the per­son to person infection.

Obviously, the situation can cause temporary changes in the activities of the infected individual and lead to decreased produc­tivity.

This situation has worse im­plications for people who have to go out to earn a living and for artisans who are self-employed.

Besides, the state suffers an increased disease burden.

Even though AHC currently appears not to be as serious as other eye diseases like cataracts, glaucoma and Diabetic Retinopathy, once it is a disorder affecting the eyes, it must be treated with all seriousness.

The eyes are so important that people who have vision must do all they can to protect them.

With all apologies and sympa­thies, we can say that it is better to be born blind than to lose your vision.

It is wonderful and heart-warming how some people born blind have coped with their condition and achieved greatness in various fields of endeavour.

You have to learn new ways of living if you should lose your sight, so heed all advice to protect your vision, including that regarding AHC.

Practise personal hygiene, including frequent hand-washing, avoid self-medication and report all eye infections to the hospital.