Acute Conjunctivitis

Abstract

Acute conjunctivitis is common. About 2–5% of general practice consultations are related to eye conditions and approximately 40% of these are concerned with conjunctivitis. Thus, on average, a full-time general practitioner sees a patient with conjunctivitis every week. The most common presentation is with a red eye. The main tasks are to exclude potentially serious causes of a red eye and then decide whether the conjunctivitis is infective, allergic or due to other causes so that suitable management can be initiated.