Can viral conjunctivitis be caught from bacterial, and vice versa?

[John Salerno]

I'm currently in week two of conjunctivitis, originally diagnosed as bacterial by my general doctor and then later diagnosed as viral by my ophthalmologist. Based on my symptoms and what I've read on WebMD, etc. I'm inclined to think it's viral. I took antibiotic eye drops (prescribed by my doctor) for about 3 days before seeing my ophthalmologist, who advised me to stop using them and instead prescribed corticosteroid eye drops meant to help with the inflammation and irritation. (Those don't seem to be doing much good either.)

 

Anyway, all of that is just to ask my question. My niece had pink eye a week before I got it, so I assume I caught it from her. Shortly after I got it, it showed up in my nephew, and then both of their parents as well. As far as my sister and brother-in-law, they actually had tests done that determined their version to be bacterial. We don't know for sure which version my niece had. I assume she's the one who spread it to all of us.

 

So I'm wondering, is it possible for the bacterial version to be caught from exposure to the viral version, and vice versa? If my ophthalmologist is right and I do have the viral version, then how could I have gotten that if my niece had bacterial? Or if my niece also had viral, how did my sister and brother-in-law get the bacterial version?

 

I suppose we could have gotten it from two separate sources, but it seems likely that it was from my niece.

 

Thanks.

[ecoli]

didn't you get cultures done to confirm the bacterial diagnosis? Anyway, its difficult to tell from symptoms alone what the microbial source could be (you need a more discriminating test).

 

Just an opinion from a non-medical professional, if its been two weeks and its not getting better confirming/IDing the source might benefit you by informing treatment options. OTOH, maybe 2+ weeks is not unusual for pink eye. How have other members of your family fared?

[John Salerno]

didn't you get cultures done to confirm the bacterial diagnosis? Anyway, its difficult to tell from symptoms alone what the microbial source could be (you need a more discriminating test).

 

Just an opinion from a non-medical professional, if its been two weeks and its not getting better confirming/IDing the source might benefit you by informing treatment options. OTOH, maybe 2+ weeks is not unusual for pink eye. How have other members of your family fared?

 

No, I didn't have any tests done to confirm it. I doubt most doctors think it's worth the effort.

 

My sister and brother-in-law both seemed to recover within days of starting their antibiotics. The same with my nephew, so perhaps his was bacterial as well. I hope so since the doctor gave him antibiotics. I think my niece's condition lasted longer, about a week or so, so it's possible hers was viral.

 

It's entirely possible that all cases in the family are bacterial and I was just misdiagnosed as viral (by one doctor, since their opinions were the opposite of one another), but all my symptoms seem to indicate viral (to my layman understanding, at least). So that's why I asked my question. I was wondering if the viral and bacterial versions are two completely separate conditions (which I would think they are) or if exposure to one can lead to the other. Because it confuses me why we would all have different types...

[ewmon]

I'm not a medical professional, but this reminds me of the two major types of pneumonia, viral and bacterial, where the infection by one can weaken the lungs and lead to the opportunistic infection by the other. Eyes, like lungs, are very exposed to the environment.

 

A patient could be infected by one, and be diagnosed as such and likewise treated, and then develop the opportunistic infection by the other, which is then transmitted to another patient.

 

So, I'm supposing that someone diagnosed with bacterial pink eye could transmit viral pink eye to you (because they ended up with both, with the one beaten down with medication, but not the other).

 

Make sense?

[John Salerno]

I'm not a medical professional, but this reminds me of the two major types of pneumonia, viral and bacterial, where the infection by one can weaken the lungs and lead to the opportunistic infection by the other. Eyes, like lungs, are very exposed to the environment.

 

A patient could be infected by one, and be diagnosed as such and likewise treated, and then develop the opportunistic infection by the other, which is then transmitted to another patient.

 

So, I'm supposing that someone diagnosed with bacterial pink eye could transmit viral pink eye to you (because they ended up with both, with the one beaten down with medication, but not the other).

 

Make sense?

 

That makes sense, but does pink eye work that way, like pneumonia?

[Appolinaria]

I think it's safe to say that ie; irritated/inflamed areas of an eye from a viral infection are more susceptible to bacteria.

 

Just tell your doctor the situation and get treated for all of 'em. 2 weeks seems like a long time :S

[John Salerno]

I think it's safe to say that ie; irritated/inflamed areas of an eye from a viral infection are more susceptible to bacteria.

 

Just tell your doctor the situation and get treated for all of 'em. 2 weeks seems like a long time :S

 

According to the information I've read, it can even last longer than two weeks. But it's obvious that most of my symptoms are going away, like redness and irritation. I'm basically left with the swollen eyelids and discharge now, which my eye doctor said is normal at this point. It definitely took a while to START getting better at all, though.

[JorgeLobo]

To your orginal question - no, one does not contract a bacterial infection via exposure to a viral infection. Suggest you ask one of these practioners to get culture data to confirm or eliminate bacterial infection.

[MANIKah]

According to the information I've read, it can even last longer than two weeks. But it's obvious that most of my symptoms are going away, like redness and irritation. I'm basically left with the swollen eyelids and discharge now, which my eye doctor said is normal at this point. It definitely took a while to START getting better at all, though.

Now I want to suggest you to consult one eye specialist for your better solution.It is very tough to identify this probelems by discussion here.

[John Salerno]

Now I want to suggest you to consult one eye specialist for your better solution.It is very tough to identify this probelems by discussion here.

 

Well, I already said I saw an eye doctor. I'm going again Friday for a follow-up.

[Jens]

My whole family had a viral conjunctivitis. It started with a bacterial conjunctivities of my father who visited an ophtalmo in vacation in rural France. After receiving antibiotics everything was o.k. again for some days. After 1 or two weeks (I do not remember any more) however it started again. Later the second one turned out to be a viral conjunctivitis (He got infected at the ophthalmo.)

It is really very infectious! You solely rely on your own immuno system. After 2 weeks your immuno system is gaining. After 3 weeks it was over.

 

We all were nevertheless treated with antibiotics (in form of eye drops). The reasoning was twofold:

a) The tests take some time and the phycians do not want to take the risk that an antibiotic resistent bacterium is irreversibly destroying parts of my eyes. So I even got treated by 3 different antibiotics sequentially.

b) It is quite common that the virus infection causes additional infections by bacteria.