Infectious Conjunctivitis: Epidemiological And Microbiological Aspects

To study the epidemiological and microbiological aspects of infectious conjunctivitis, identify the germs and study the relationship between sex, age and microorganisms involved.

Ophthalmology Department, The Military Hospital of Tunis Instruction

We conducted a retrospective study of 250 cases of infectious conjunctivitis collected between October 2015 and December 2019. We performed a conjunctival swabbing for microbiological examination in all cases.

We diagnosed 355 eyes from 250 patients with infectious conjunctivitis clinically and microbiologically. The average age was 26 years, with a male predominance. The peak age of onset was between 18 and 25 years. Children < 15 years of age represented 25.6% of the study population. Conjunctivitis was bilateral in 80.8% of cases. We noted the presence of pretragic lymphadenopathy, chalazion, and urethral discharge in 17,2%,5,2%, and 4,8% of the cases, respectively. 50% of these patients had subepithelial infiltrates in favor of viral origin. In cases where a germ was isolated, Staphylococcus aureus followed by Enterobacter were most common in adults. In children, Enterobacteriaceae was responsible for conjunctivitis in more than 50% of cases.

Diagnosis of infectious conjunctivitis is essentially clinical. Several techniques based on microbiological examination of ocular swabbing confirm the origin. Infectious conjunctivitis poses organizational and hygiene problems, especially in a military community. Conjunctival sampling, not performed systematically, helps rationalize the misuse of antibiotics.