Conjunctivitis or pink eye is commonly observed during delivery, hence majority of these affected newly born babies are given treatment involving antibiotics eye ointments or other preventives.
In case discharge emitted from the eye is acute then in such a scenario, gonorrhea or gonococcal conjunctivitis could be the causal factor, especially among newly born infants. During the birthing process, a baby contracts the infection from his/her mother who has an untreated STD.
It is advisable that expectant mothers be examined prior to their delivery to ensure any form of pre-existent infections which if present, could be treated using antibiotic medications for averting chances of mother-to-child transmission.
In case confirmation of gonococcal conjunctivitis has been found in a newly born child then treatment for pink eye would comprise of intravenous or intramuscular administration of antibiotics alongside being used as topically applied eye drops or ointment.
All newly born babies having pink eye must be compulsorily examined for presence of Chlamydia or gonococcal conjunctivitis or STDs. But, streptococcus, staphylococcus and other communicable agents must also be taken into consideration so that prompt and apt therapy could be commenced.
One also needs to bear in mind, that not all occurrences of pink eye which develop soon after or in a couple of weeks following delivery called as ophthalmio neonatorum arise due to STD. The eyes of an infant could also contract infection after being exposed to several other bacterial forms at the time of delivery. Moreover, infants who are just months old could contract pink eye due to exposure to other bacteria sources in their home.
Around 1.6 – 12% of newly born infants in the U.S. develop some type of conjunctivitis. Treatment for pink eye comprises of application of silver nitrate and antibiotics ointment to eyes of the newly born infant in just hours following delivery. This treatment measure has been found to be immensely beneficial in reducing the occurrence of gonococcal conjunctivitis in the United States from ten percent of births observed ten or more years back to merely 0.3% in present times. This preventative means however does not halt Chlamydia based conjunctivitis, nonetheless, which should be treated using antibiotic course post-diagnosis.
Antibiotics course in case of treatment for pink eye linked to gonorrhea or Chlamydia would also be required for sexually-active adults who have contracted the infection following exposure to transmittable emissions.
