Rawalpindi:
As the conjunctivitis outbreak (pink eye) spreads through Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the prices of related medications, including the drops for eyes and rose water, have increased in the open market, while essential ocular drops for conjunctivitis have disappeared from local stores.
With the increase in the cost of these treatments, the number of conjunctivitis cases is increasing at an alarming rate. In the last three days, almost 2,964 patients, who suffer from conjunctivitis, have visited the three main eye hospitals in Rawalpindi: Holy Family Hospital, District’s headquarters hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Cantonment Hospital.
Private hospitals and local clinics are also seeing long tails of patients. A large number of families in twin cities have been affected, however, neither the Department of Health of the District nor the District Administration have initiated any awareness campaign or have issued a public notice on the subject. This lack of action is contributing to the growing number of cases.
As the situation worsens, local pharmacies have raised prices of all related ocular falls that were previously available for RS90 but now sold until RS160.
Dr. Inayat, BBH’s deputy medical superintendent, emphasized that conjunctivitis is a highly contagious disease. If an individual in a home, office or school is infected, the infection can quickly extend to others, he added.
“The infection can be transmitted through handshakes, shared towels or utensils, or by close contact with an infected person. To avoid a greater transmission, doctors recommend washing the eyes with clean water, apply prescribed eye drops and avoid touching the eyes with their hands.”
Medical experts have advised patients to wear dark sunglasses to protect their eyes from sunlight and bright lights, and apply ice compresses to relieve.
