Pink Eye: Viral, Bacterial or Allergic: How to Tell and When It Is Contagious

Every September the same ritual plays out in school offices across the country: a child arrives with one crusted, rose-colored eye, a nurse squints at it, and a parent gets a phone call with a single question attached. Is it catching? As of September 2026, that question is again climbing search charts, pushed along by back-to-school clusters of adenovirus and a fresh round of social-media posts insisting that everything from a new respiratory virus to a stranger’s flatulence can give you pink eye.

Some of those claims contain a grain of truth. Most do not. What gets lost in the noise is the one thing that actually changes what you should do: whether the redness is viral, bacterial or allergic. Those three look alike at a glance and behave very differently over a week.

This piece walks through the tells clinicians actually use, what the trials say about antibiotics, how long you are contagious, and the handful of signs that mean the problem is not simple pink eye at all.

What is pink eye, really?

The conjunctiva is a clear, tissue-paper-thin membrane that lines the inside of your eyelids and covers the white of the eye, stopping short of the cornea. It is packed with tiny blood vessels you normally cannot see. When something irritates or infects it, those vessels widen, the membrane swells, and the white of the eye turns pink or red. That is pink eye, or conjunctivitis, and it is one of the most common reasons people visit primary care or urgent care for an eye complaint.

Because the conjunctiva also produces part of the tear film and mucus, an inflamed one leaks. The character of what it leaks is the single most useful clue to the cause. Watery tears point one way, thick pus another, and stringy clear mucus a third.

The cornea, the clear dome over the colored part of the eye, is not involved in ordinary pink eye. That matters, because the cornea is what you see through. Conjunctivitis makes an eye look alarming, but it should not blur vision beyond the smear you get from discharge, and it should not hurt in a deep, aching way. When those features appear, the diagnosis shifts from a nuisance to something needing an eye examination, which is why the red-flag list later in this article deserves as much attention as the how-to-tell section.

One more piece of anatomy helps. The conjunctiva of both eyes drains into the nose through the tear ducts, and the nose connects to the throat. That plumbing explains why a cold so often arrives with a pink eye, and why a viral eye infection so predictably hops from one eye to the other a few days later.

How do you get pink eye? The three main causes

Viruses, bacteria and allergens account for the overwhelming majority of pink eye. Irritants such as chlorine, smoke or a stray eyelash cause a fourth, short-lived type that settles once the trigger is gone.

Viral conjunctivitis is the most common form in adults, and adenoviruses are the usual culprit. These are the same family of viruses behind many colds and sore throats. They spread through respiratory droplets, through fingers that touch an infected eye and then a doorknob, and through shared towels, pillowcases and eye makeup. Adenovirus is hardy; it can survive on surfaces for days, which is why it tears through swim teams, dormitories and offices.

Bacterial conjunctivitis is more common in young children. Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and Haemophilus species, many of which live harmlessly on skin and in the nose, get rubbed into the eye. Children with ear infections and sinus infections are especially prone, and a child with a runny nose and pus in one eye is a classic pairing. Sexually transmitted bacteria such as chlamydia and gonorrhea can also infect the conjunctiva, in adults and in newborns exposed during birth; those cases are rarer and behave more aggressively.

Allergic conjunctivitis is not an infection at all. Pollen, dust mites, pet dander or mold land on the conjunctiva, immune cells release histamine, and the eyes itch, water and swell. Because nothing is being passed from person to person, it cannot spread to anyone else, no matter how red the eyes get.

Knowing which door the problem came through tells you most of what you need about contagion, likely duration and whether any prescription is worth considering.

Viral pink eye: the watery, one-then-both-eyes pattern

Viral conjunctivitis tends to announce itself with a gritty, sandy feeling, as though a grain of something is trapped under the lid, followed within hours by pink discoloration and a steady trickle of watery tears. The discharge is thin and clear or faintly cloudy, not thick. Eyelids may be puffy in the morning, but the lashes rarely glue shut the way they do with bacteria.

Two features stand out. First, the infection very often starts in one eye and reaches the other within two to five days, because fingers and shared tears carry the virus across. Second, it frequently keeps company with cold symptoms: a scratchy throat, a runny nose, a low fever, or a tender, pea-sized lymph node just in front of the ear. That small node, called the preauricular node, is something clinicians feel for specifically, since it points toward a viral cause.

Light sensitivity can occur, particularly with the more intense adenovirus strains that cause epidemic keratoconjunctivitis, a form in which the cornea becomes inflamed too. That variety lasts longer, can leave temporary blurry spots on the cornea, and is the reason a viral pink eye that gets worse after a week rather than better needs a proper eye examination.

Antibiotics do nothing against viruses, and there is no antiviral eye drop approved for routine adenoviral conjunctivitis. Management is supportive: cool compresses, preservative-free lubricating drops, and patience. The immune system clears adenovirus on its own in most people within one to two weeks, with the worst of the redness typically in the first three to five days.

The practical upshot is that viral pink eye is the type most likely to spread through a household, and the type where a prescription is least likely to help.

Bacterial pink eye: thick discharge and stuck-shut lids

The signature of bacterial conjunctivitis is pus. It is yellow, green or grayish, it is thick, and it keeps coming. Wipe it away and within an hour a new film has gathered along the lid margin. Overnight it dries into a crust that welds the lashes together, so the person wakes unable to open the eye without warm water and a washcloth.

Redness is usually pronounced and the eye can feel irritated or sore, though again not deeply painful. Vision is smeared by the discharge but clears when the eye is wiped. Bacterial infections can involve one eye or both, and unlike viral cases they less often arrive with a cold, though in toddlers a simultaneous ear infection is common enough that clinicians check the ears.

Most bacterial conjunctivitis in otherwise healthy people is self-limiting. Randomized trials that compared antibiotic drops with placebo found that the majority of untreated cases were resolving by day five and cleared within a week or two. Antibiotics shorten that course by a day or two on average and reduce the window during which the person is shedding bacteria, which is why they are still reasonably offered in some situations, such as for a child who needs to return to daycare, a contact-lens wearer, or someone whose discharge is severe. Whether to use them is a judgment call that belongs to the examining clinician.

Two bacterial forms are never watch-and-wait. Gonococcal conjunctivitis produces copious pus within a day or so, swells the lids dramatically and can damage the cornea quickly. Chlamydial conjunctivitis smolders for weeks with a lower-grade redness and does not respond to standard drops. Both need laboratory confirmation and systemic treatment, and both are urgent in newborns.

Allergic pink eye: itch is the tell

If one word separates allergic conjunctivitis from the infectious kinds, it is itch. Viral eyes feel gritty; bacterial eyes feel sore and sticky; allergic eyes itch so relentlessly that the person cannot stop rubbing, which only makes them redder. Both eyes are almost always affected at once, because pollen does not politely choose a side.

The discharge is clear and stringy, like thin egg white, rather than watery or pus-like. Lids swell, sometimes impressively, and the conjunctiva itself can puff into a pale, jelly-like ridge called chemosis. Sneezing, a runny or stuffy nose and an itchy palate usually come along, and there is often a seasonal rhythm: spring tree pollen, summer grasses, autumn ragweed, or year-round symptoms in a home with a cat.

None of this is contagious. A child with streaming, itchy eyes in April poses no risk to classmates, and keeping them home helps no one.

Management starts with avoidance and cooling. Rinsing the eyes with cool water or preservative-free artificial tears physically washes pollen off the conjunctiva. Cool compresses shrink swollen vessels and blunt the itch. Over-the-counter antihistamine or mast-cell-stabilizing eye drops are well supported by randomized trials for reducing itch and redness, and a pharmacist can help choose one; anyone who needs them for weeks at a time, or who has asthma or eczema alongside, should discuss longer-term options with a clinician. Decongestant drops that promise to whiten the eye are a poor choice for daily use because redness rebounds when they wear off.

Contact lenses trap allergens against the eye and should come out until symptoms settle. Showering and changing clothes after time outdoors on high-pollen days is unglamorous but genuinely effective.

How to tell viral, bacterial and allergic pink eye apart

No single sign is perfectly reliable, and clinicians misjudge the cause more often than most people assume, which is one reason guidelines discourage reflexive antibiotics. Taken together, though, the pattern of discharge, itch, spread and accompanying symptoms sorts most cases correctly.

Feature	Viral	Bacterial	Allergic
Discharge	Watery, thin	Thick, yellow-green pus	Clear, stringy mucus
Lashes stuck shut in morning	Sometimes, mildly	Typical and heavy	Rare
Main sensation	Gritty, burning	Sore, sticky	Intense itch
Which eyes	One, then the other in 2 to 5 days	One or both	Both at once
Other symptoms	Cold, sore throat, tender node by ear	Ear infection in children	Sneezing, runny nose, seasonal
Contagious	Yes, up to 2 weeks	Yes, until discharge stops or 24 hours on antibiotics	No
Usual duration	7 to 14 days	5 to 10 days	As long as exposure lasts
Antibiotics help	No	Modestly, in selected cases	No

A few refinements sharpen the picture. Age tilts the odds: under about five, bacteria are more likely; from school age onward, viruses dominate. A very recent cold in the household favors a viral cause. A contact-lens wearer with a red, painful eye is a different category entirely, because the risk of a corneal infection is high enough that lenses come out and an eye professional examines the eye the same day.

When the table does not settle it, the calendar often will. Viral cases peak around day three to five and then slowly fade. Bacterial cases improve steadily once discharge slows. Allergic cases wax and wane with the pollen count and vanish indoors with the windows shut.

Is pink eye contagious, and for how long?

Infectious pink eye is contagious for as long as the eye is producing tears or discharge, because that fluid is what carries the virus or bacteria to fingers, towels and surfaces. For viral conjunctivitis that usually means one to two weeks, occasionally longer with the more aggressive adenovirus strains. For bacterial conjunctivitis it means until the discharge has stopped, or roughly 24 hours after antibiotic drops have begun if they are prescribed.

The incubation period, the gap between exposure and symptoms, differs too. Bacterial infections tend to appear within one to three days of exposure. Adenovirus takes longer, typically five to twelve days, which is why a classroom cluster can seem to arrive in waves.

Transmission is almost entirely by hand. Someone rubs an infected eye, touches a keyboard, a faucet or a child’s face, and the next person rubs their own eye. Sharing towels, pillowcases, eye makeup, eye drops or contact-lens cases moves infection efficiently. Respiratory droplets from an accompanying cold add a second route for viruses. Swimming pools have hosted adenovirus outbreaks when chlorine levels lapsed.

The corresponding defenses are mundane and effective. Wash hands with soap for 20 seconds after touching the eye. Use a fresh washcloth and towel each day and launder them hot. Change pillowcases daily while symptoms last. Throw away mascara, eyeliner and any eye drops used during the infection. Do not share these items, and do not wear contact lenses until the eye has been clear for at least a day, longer if a clinician advises.

Allergic pink eye, once again, spreads to no one. The same goes for irritant conjunctivitis from chlorine or smoke.

How long does pink eye last, and will it go away on its own?

Most pink eye resolves without any prescription. The honest answer to how long depends on the cause and, to a smaller degree, on the person.

Viral conjunctivitis typically runs seven to fourteen days. Redness and tearing build over the first two to three days, plateau, and then recede. The second eye, if it becomes involved, usually has a milder course. Adenovirus strains that inflame the cornea can drag on for three weeks or more and leave faint corneal spots that blur vision for a while before fading; those cases deserve an eye examination rather than home waiting.

Bacterial conjunctivitis in a healthy person generally improves within five to seven days and clears by ten, even untreated. Trials that randomized people to placebo drops found that roughly two-thirds had recovered by day five without antibiotics. When antibiotic drops are used, discharge often slows within a day or two, but the overall difference in time to recovery is modest.

Allergic conjunctivitis lasts exactly as long as the allergen does. Seasonal cases fade when the pollen season ends; year-round cases from dust mites or pets persist until exposure is reduced or symptoms are controlled with drops.

The pattern that should prompt a call is worsening after the expected peak. A viral eye still getting redder at day seven, a bacterial eye with unchanged pus after several days of prescribed drops, or any eye that becomes painful, light-sensitive or blurry beyond the discharge has stepped outside the ordinary course. So has any red eye in a newborn, a contact-lens wearer, or a person with a weakened immune system, where waiting is not the right plan even on day one.

Do I need antibiotics if I have pink eye?

Usually not, and the evidence behind that answer is stronger than many people expect. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses, which cause most adult pink eye, and no effect on allergic inflammation. That leaves bacterial conjunctivitis, and even there the benefit is real but small.

A Cochrane systematic review pooling randomized, placebo-controlled trials of antibiotic drops or ointments for bacterial conjunctivitis found that treatment increased the proportion of people clinically recovered within the first week and reduced how long bacteria could be cultured from the eye. The gain amounted to roughly one extra person in ten recovering by days two to five, with no difference in serious complications, which were rare in both groups. Put plainly: antibiotics speed things up a little and shorten contagion, but they do not change the destination for most people.

That is why guidance from national health bodies describes antibiotics as an option rather than a default, with a delayed-prescription approach, in which drops are used only if the eye has not begun improving after a few days, considered reasonable. Cases where clinicians lean toward treating include very heavy purulent discharge, symptoms in a contact-lens wearer, a person with a weakened immune system, and children who cannot return to a childcare setting until treated.

The downsides of unnecessary antibiotics are not trivial. Drops can sting and cause their own redness, some contain preservatives that irritate, and broad use fuels resistance in the very bacteria that cause more serious eye infections. Antibiotic drops also cannot be bought over the counter in the United States, so obtaining them means a clinical assessment anyway.

None of this means refusing a prescription a clinician has recommended after examining the eye. The decision, and any change to it, belongs with that clinician.

Pink eye treatment at home: what actually helps

For the large majority of viral, mild bacterial and allergic cases, care at home is the treatment, and a handful of simple measures make the days more comfortable.

Compresses come first. A clean washcloth wrung out in cool water soothes itchy allergic eyes and burning viral ones; a warm one loosens the dried crust of bacterial discharge so lids open without pulling lashes. Use a fresh cloth each time, one per eye if only one is infected, and launder them separately.

Preservative-free artificial tears, sold as single-use vials, rinse away discharge and allergens and ease the gritty feeling. Buy a new supply for the infection and discard the vials afterward rather than saving them, since the tips can pick up germs. Avoid drops marketed to whiten red eyes; the vasoconstrictor in them wears off within hours and redness rebounds, sometimes worse than before.

Wipe discharge from the inner corner outward with a clean tissue and drop it straight into the bin, then wash hands. Take contact lenses out and leave them out until the eye has been symptom-free for at least a day, and discard the lenses and case that were in use when symptoms began. Skip eye makeup for the duration and throw away any that touched the infected eye.

For allergic eyes, over-the-counter antihistamine drops help within minutes and are supported by randomized trials; oral antihistamines add relief for the nose but can dry the eyes. Anyone using these for more than a couple of weeks, or who has other health conditions or takes other medicines, should check with a pharmacist or clinician.

What home care cannot do is treat a corneal infection, gonococcal or chlamydial conjunctivitis, or herpes of the eye. Those look like pink eye at first and are exactly why the red-flag list exists.

Do I need to stay home if I have pink eye? School, work and daycare

This is the question most parents actually want answered, and the guidance is less strict than folklore suggests. The CDC notes that a child with pink eye can often continue attending school or childcare provided they can practice good hygiene, and that exclusion is generally not necessary unless the child has fever, feels unwell, or the school’s own policy requires it. Many schools do have such policies, particularly for children too young to keep their hands away from their faces, so the practical answer often comes down to the local rule.

For adults, the calculation is about exposure. Someone who works closely with infants, older adults, or people with weakened immune systems, or who handles food, has good reason to stay home while the eye is discharging. An office worker who can wash hands frequently and avoid shared equipment poses little risk. Working from home for the first few days, when tearing is heaviest, is a reasonable middle path.

Bacterial conjunctivitis treated with antibiotic drops is generally considered non-contagious about 24 hours after the drops begin, which is the threshold many daycares use for return. Untreated bacterial cases and all viral cases remain contagious while discharge persists, which for viruses can mean two weeks; few workplaces expect that long an absence, so hygiene rather than isolation becomes the main safeguard.

Swimming is a firmer no while the eye is red, both because pools have hosted outbreaks and because chlorinated water irritates an inflamed conjunctiva.

Allergic conjunctivitis requires no time off at all. A note from a clinician confirming an allergic cause can spare a child repeated trips to the school office during pollen season.

What changed recently

Nothing about the conjunctiva has changed, but the public conversation around it has shifted in a few dated ways worth setting straight.

In the spring of 2023, clinicians in several countries reported that a then-new COVID-19 variant, XBB.1.16, seemed to bring conjunctivitis along more often than earlier variants, especially in children. Those reports were observational, based on clusters rather than controlled comparison, and conjunctivitis remained a minor feature of a respiratory illness rather than a defining symptom. The episode did remind everyone that many respiratory viruses, adenovirus first among them, can touch the eye.

In 2024 the CDC reorganized its conjunctivitis pages into a plain-language format covering causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment, and it reaffirmed its longstanding position that most cases are mild, that antibiotics are appropriate only for selected bacterial cases, and that exclusion from school is usually unnecessary when hygiene is manageable.

The NHS continues to advise that pharmacists are the first port of call for uncomplicated pink eye, that antibiotic drops are reserved for cases that are severe or not settling, and that people do not need to stay off work or school unless they feel unwell. Mayo Clinic and the National Eye Institute at the NIH carry consistent advice.

The more consequential trend is quieter: growing antibiotic resistance among the staphylococcal and streptococcal species that cause eye infections, documented in surveillance studies indexed in PubMed over the past decade. That reality is what pushes current guidance toward restraint. Every unnecessary course of drops for a viral eye chips away at the drugs needed for a genuinely dangerous corneal infection.

As of September 2026, no new vaccine or antiviral has changed management of everyday viral conjunctivitis, and any product claiming otherwise online should be treated with skepticism.

What the evidence actually says

Grading the evidence behind pink eye advice is refreshingly straightforward, because the field has a few solid randomized trials and a great deal of consistent observational experience.

Strongest tier: randomized controlled trials. The pooled placebo-controlled trials in the Cochrane review of antibiotics for acute bacterial conjunctivitis are the best evidence on the subject. They show a modest, statistically clear improvement in early clinical and microbiological recovery with antibiotics, no difference in serious outcomes, and high rates of spontaneous recovery in placebo groups. Randomized trials also underpin the effectiveness of antihistamine and mast-cell-stabilizer drops for allergic conjunctivitis, where itch reduction against placebo is consistent across many studies.

Middle tier: observational data. Estimates of how long viral conjunctivitis stays contagious, incubation periods for adenovirus, the association between XBB.1.16 and conjunctivitis, and the higher share of bacterial cases in young children come from cohort studies, outbreak investigations and surveillance. These are reliable for describing patterns but cannot prove cause the way a trial can.

Lower tier: expert consensus. School-exclusion policies, the 24-hour rule after starting antibiotics, and the advice to discard makeup and lens cases are sensible extrapolations from how the pathogens behave rather than the products of trials. That does not make them wrong; it means they are judgment, and reasonable clinicians may draw lines slightly differently.

No meaningful tier: home remedies such as breast milk, urine, tea bags or honey applied to the eye. There are no controlled studies showing benefit, and case reports describe infections introduced by non-sterile fluids. The same applies to supplements marketed for eye infections.

An honest summary is that pink eye is a well-understood, mostly self-limiting condition in which the main evidence-based interventions are hygiene, time, antihistamines for allergy, and antibiotics for a carefully selected minority.

Common myths about pink eye, corrected

Viral claims about pink eye circulate faster than the virus itself. Here is what the evidence supports.

Pink eye always needs antibiotics. It does not. Most cases are viral or allergic, where antibiotics are useless, and most bacterial cases resolve on their own within a week or two. Antibiotics offer a small speed advantage in selected bacterial cases.

You can catch pink eye from someone passing gas near your face. This one has made the rounds on social media for years. Flatulence does not carry a meaningful load of the bacteria that infect the conjunctiva, and no published outbreak has traced pink eye to it. Infection travels on hands, towels and droplets.

Breast milk, urine or tea bags clear pink eye. No controlled study supports any of these. Breast milk is not sterile, and dripping non-sterile fluid into an inflamed eye risks adding bacteria rather than removing them. Cool, clean compresses achieve the soothing effect safely.

A red eye during a cold means the new COVID variant. Conjunctivitis has been reported with several respiratory viruses, and the 2023 XBB.1.16 reports were real, but adenovirus remains by far the most common viral cause. Eye redness alone cannot identify which virus is responsible; only a test can.

Redness-relief drops treat the infection. They temporarily narrow blood vessels so the eye looks whiter. They do nothing to the cause and can produce rebound redness with repeated use.

If it is pink eye, it cannot be serious. Ordinary conjunctivitis is mild, but corneal ulcers, herpes eye infections, acute glaucoma and inflammation inside the eye all begin as a red eye. Pain, light sensitivity and blurred vision that does not clear with blinking are the features that separate them.

Once the eye looks better, you are no longer contagious. For viral cases, shedding can continue for days after the redness fades. Keep up handwashing until tearing has completely stopped.

When to see a doctor about pink eye

Most pink eye can be managed at home or with a pharmacist’s advice. A short list of features means the eye needs a clinical examination, sometimes the same day, because they suggest the problem is not ordinary conjunctivitis or has developed a complication.

• Moderate or severe eye pain, as opposed to grittiness or mild soreness.
• Sensitivity to light strong enough that you want to keep the eye closed.
• Blurred or reduced vision that does not clear after blinking away discharge.
• A red eye in someone who wears contact lenses, even if symptoms seem mild.
• Any red or discharging eye in a newborn or infant under about one month old.
• Very heavy, rapidly worsening pus with marked lid swelling, which can indicate gonococcal infection.
• Symptoms that are worsening after five to seven days, or not improving after two weeks.
• A red eye in a person with a weakened immune system, recent eye surgery or a known eye condition.
• Blisters or a rash on the eyelid or around the eye, which can signal a herpes infection.
• Redness that is intense and confined to a ring around the colored part of the eye, rather than spread across the white.
• Fever, feeling generally unwell, or a severe headache with the red eye.

Seek emergency care immediately for sudden severe eye pain with vision loss, nausea and a hazy cornea, which can indicate acute glaucoma, and for any eye injury or chemical splash, which should be rinsed continuously with clean water on the way.

When you do see a clinician, mention contact-lens use, any recent cold or sexually transmitted infection, whether others at home are affected, and every drop or remedy that has gone into the eye. Do not stop or change any prescribed eye medicine, including drops for glaucoma or other conditions, without speaking to the person who prescribed it. Whether pink eye needs a prescription, and which one, is a decision for the clinician who has examined the eye.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get pink eye?

Pink eye usually arrives by hand: fingers touch a virus or bacteria on a surface, a towel or an infected person’s tears, then rub the eye. Adenoviruses, which also cause colds, are the commonest viral cause and can spread by respiratory droplets too. Bacteria from the skin or nose cause most childhood cases. Allergic pink eye comes from pollen, dust or pet dander landing on the eye and is not caught from anyone.

Will pink eye go away on its own?

In most cases, yes. Viral pink eye clears within one to two weeks as the immune system deals with the virus, and antibiotics do not speed it up. Bacterial pink eye in a healthy person usually resolves within five to ten days even without treatment. Allergic pink eye settles when exposure to the trigger ends. A red eye that is worsening after a week, or that is painful or blurring vision, should not be left to run its course.

Do I need to stay home if I have pink eye?

Not necessarily. The CDC advises that children with pink eye can often attend school or childcare if they can manage hand hygiene and do not have fever, though individual school policies vary and many require a clinician’s note or 24 hours of antibiotic drops for bacterial cases. Adults who work with infants, older people or immunocompromised patients, or who handle food, should stay home while the eye is discharging.

Do I need antibiotics if I have pink eye?

Usually not. Antibiotics do nothing for viral or allergic pink eye, which together make up most cases. For bacterial pink eye, randomized trials show antibiotic drops speed recovery by a day or two and shorten the contagious period, but most people recover without them. Clinicians tend to offer drops for heavy discharge, contact-lens wearers, people with weakened immunity or children who must return to daycare. The decision belongs to the clinician who examines the eye.

Is pink eye contagious after starting antibiotic drops?

Bacterial pink eye is generally considered no longer contagious about 24 hours after antibiotic drops or ointment begin, which is why many schools use that as the return threshold. Antibiotics have no effect on viral pink eye, so a viral case remains contagious while tearing continues, regardless of any drops. Handwashing, fresh towels and not sharing pillows or makeup remain the real safeguards in both situations.

How long does pink eye last in adults?

Viral pink eye, the most common type in adults, lasts about seven to fourteen days, peaking around day three to five. Bacterial cases typically improve within a week. Allergic pink eye persists for as long as the allergen is around, often an entire pollen season if untreated. Adult adenovirus infections that involve the cornea can last three weeks or more and may leave temporary blurry spots, which is a reason to have a lingering case examined.

What are pink eye symptoms in adults versus children?

The symptoms themselves are similar: redness, discharge, gritty or itchy sensation, and swollen lids. The likely cause shifts with age. Young children more often have bacterial pink eye, frequently alongside an ear infection, with thick pus and stuck lashes. Adults more often have viral pink eye with watery discharge and a cold, or allergic pink eye with itching in both eyes. Adults who wear contact lenses face an extra risk of corneal infection.

What pink eye treatment at home is safe?

Cool or warm compresses with a fresh clean cloth each time, preservative-free artificial tears in single-use vials, gentle wiping of discharge from the inner corner outward, and frequent handwashing are safe and helpful. Antihistamine drops from a pharmacy relieve allergic itch. Leave contact lenses out, discard eye makeup, and avoid redness-relief drops, breast milk, urine or tea bags, none of which has evidence of benefit and some of which can introduce infection.

Can I wear contact lenses with pink eye?

No. Take lenses out at the first sign of a red eye and do not put them back until the eye has been completely clear for at least a day, or longer if a clinician advises. Throw away the lenses and case in use when symptoms started. Contact-lens wearers with a red, painful eye need a same-day eye examination because bacterial corneal infections, which can threaten sight, begin the same way.

How can I stop pink eye spreading to my other eye or my family?

Wash hands with soap for 20 seconds every time you touch your face or eye. Use a separate towel and washcloth for the infected eye and change pillowcases daily. Do not share towels, makeup, eye drops or pillows. Wipe discharge with disposable tissues and bin them at once. Keep the infected side of your face away from shared items. Viral pink eye often reaches the second eye despite precautions, but these steps reduce household spread.

References

• CDC: About Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye)
• NHS: Conjunctivitis
• NIH National Eye Institute: Pink Eye
• Cleveland Clinic: Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis)

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.