New-born Conjunctivitis

Severe acute Conjunctivitis occurring in new-born baby's eyes has a huge medical jargon - "Ophthalmia neonatorum".

During delivery, when the baby is passing through the mother's birth passage, sometimes, some harmful germs can get into the eyes of the baby. These can cause severe infection of the conjunctiva. You may notice, that there is plenty of yellowish, sticky discharge from the eyes of the baby.

Causes of Ophthalmia Neonatorum -

	Bacterial- gonococci most common
	Viral- Herpes
	Chlamydial
	Chemical- due to Silver nitrate instillation into the eye at birth.

Management

	To prevent this, any infection of the birth passages should be checked for and treated during prenatal visits.
	It is important to take precautions in nurseries. Hand washing before touching babies may prevent the spread.
	Instillation of specific antibiotics like Penicillin or Cephalosporins in new born babies for one week may be advised.
	To treat very severe infection, Antibiotics may be given as an injection into the vein (Intravenous antibiotics).

Bacteria:

Hey Bacteria!

Does that sound dangerous? Well may be. But did you know there are bacteria everywhere around us, even inside our body?
Bacteria can be useful as well as harmful. They can be our friends as well as enemies!

It is the bacteria that give us yogurt. Some bacteria help us in digesting our food.

Now, if they invade our body, the bacteria can cause diseases. In that case, our body will fight against them with the white blood cells. This is associated with the formation of 'pus' or the sticky discharge in conjunctivitis. Sometimes our body may start losing the fight. That's when we have to use "Antibiotics", to help our body in fighting the bacteria.