How can you tell the difference between viral and bacterial conjunctivitis?

Bacterial pink eye often appears redder than viral pink eye. While viral pink eye may cause your eyes to water, bacterial pink eye is often accompanied by green or yellow discharge. Viral pink eye also often begins with a cold, whereas bacterial pink eye is associated with respiratory infections.

What is the difference between conjunctivitis and viral conjunctivitis?

Viral conjunctivitis usually lasts longer than bacterial conjunctivitis. If conjunctivitis does not resolve with antibiotics after 3 to 4 days, the physician should suspect that the infection is viral. Bacterial conjunctivitis is characterized by mucopurulent discharge with matting of the eyelids.

Which lymph nodes swell with conjunctivitis?

Viral Conjunctivitis Discharge is usually watery. Extreme light sensitivity and a foreign-body sensation may be present. Preauricular lymph nodes may be enlarged. The most common virus causing conjunctivitis is adenovirus, and this form is called epidemic keratoconjunctivitis.

Can conjunctivitis cause swollen lymph nodes?

Viral conjunctivitis — Viral conjunctivitis is typically caused by a virus that can also cause the common cold. A person may have symptoms of conjunctivitis alone, or as part of a general cold syndrome, with swollen lymph nodes (glands), fever, a sore throat, and runny nose.

How do doctors know if it’s viral or bacterial?

Diagnosis of Bacterial and Viral Infections But your doctor may be able to determine the cause by listening to your medical history and doing a physical exam. If necessary, they also can order a blood or urine test to help confirm a diagnosis, or a “culture test” of tissue to identify bacteria or viruses.

What is more common viral or bacterial conjunctivitis?

But the majority of the estimated 3 to 6 million cases of conjunctivitis that occur annually in the U.S. are infectious. They result from a viral or bacterial infection. And viral pinkeye is the most common type of conjunctivitis of all, accounting for the lion’s share of conjunctivitis cases in adults.

Is conjunctivitis a bacterial infection?

Pink eye is commonly caused by a bacterial or viral infection, an allergic reaction, or — in babies — an incompletely opened tear duct. Though pink eye can be irritating, it rarely affects your vision. Treatments can help ease the discomfort of pink eye.

Is bacterial conjunctivitis bilateral?

Bacterial conjunctivitis can be caused by a variety of bacteria, ranging from those that commonly reside on our skin (Staph aureus) to more aggressive bacteria (Neisseria gonorrhea). Bacterial conjunctivitis is usually bilateral (both eyes), though there can be a delay of several days for onset in the second eye.

Which bacterial conjunctivitis causes prominent lymphadenopathy?

A preauricular lymph node is unusual in bacterial conjunctivitis but can be present in severe conjunctivitis caused by N gonorrhoeae. This key finding is also strongly associated with viral ocular syndromes, typically herpes simplex keratitis and epidemic keratoconjunctivitis.

What virus causes viral conjunctivitis?

Viral conjunctivitis is a highly contagious acute conjunctival infection usually caused by an adenovirus. Symptoms include irritation, photophobia, and watery discharge. Diagnosis is clinical; sometimes viral cultures or immunodiagnostic testing is indicated.