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Neonatal conjunctivitis
Pediatric Ophthalmology
Key Points
- •Timing is the key diagnostic clue: chemical (day 1), gonococcal (days 2–5), chlamydial (days 5–14), HSV (days 5–14)
- •Gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum is an ophthalmic emergency - N. gonorrhoeae can penetrate intact corneal epithelium and cause perforation within 24 hours
- •Chlamydial conjunctivitis is the most common infectious cause; requires systemic erythromycin for 14 days (topical alone does not eradicate nasopharyngeal carriage)
- •Neonates cannot mount a follicular response - chlamydial conjunctivitis in neonates is papillary, not follicular (follicles develop only after 2–3 months of age)
- •Gram stain showing intracellular Gram-negative diplococci in a neonate with hyperacute purulent conjunctivitis is diagnostic of gonococcal ophthalmia neonatorum
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Keep reading Neonatal conjunctivitis
17 more sections are included with the Clinical plan.
- Definition
- Epidemiology
- Aetiology and causes
- Pathogenesis
- Classification
- Risk factors and associations