It's Pinkeye season in Cleveland! Well, it's pretty much ALWAYS Pinkeye season around here, or so it seems. Pinkeye, or conjunctivitis, is an infection of the front of the eye. It is caused by either a bacteria or a virus and causes things like discomfort, discharge, and a drop in your vision. It's called Pinkeye because the most obvious symptom is a red eye! (No, we're not going to post an icky picture of Pinkeye here). While it's easy to diagnose conjunctivitis, it's not necessarily all that easy to diagnose what caused it.
Until now!
We are putting in place a new protocol to diagnose the underlying cause of some cases of infectious conjunctivitis. Using the Adeno+ from RPS we can now identify whether a case of Pinkeye is caused by the most common viral cause with an accuracy of greater than 90%. A quick sample is taken of your tears and 10 minutes later we get a result that tells us if your conjuctivitis is caused by an adenovirus.
This is especially important now that we have a medicine which appears to be effective against some of the viruses that cause conjunctivitis. If we are able to show that your Pinkeye is caused by a virus we will be able to prescribe a medicine that is more targeted to your case and save you from using an antibiotic (used for bacterial infections) that you do not need. We will still prescribe any additional medicines that may be necessary to improve your comfort as your infection is treated.
One more way that we are bringing the latest and most advanced care for even the oldest and most common problems you may face!
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