India is currently facing an epidemic of this contagious eye infection.
| Photo Credit: A.M.FARUQUI
An Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven research and Biomarker study by a city-based private eye hospital has revealed that those with low Vitamin D and allergies are the ones who are getting severely affected by conjunctivitis.
A study of tears from 335 conjunctivitis patients that was done at Narayana Nethralaya’s GROW (Genes Repair and Regeneration in Ophthalmic Workstation) Lab has shown that over 60% of the 220 patients who had a severe infection had low Vitamin D levels. Along with this, nearly 50% of them had systemic allergies and/or asthama.
What makes condition severe
“The most important area that holds promise is the study of tears from the conjunctivitis patients to identify unique molecules which make the condition severe. This AI driven molecular study gives the advantage of early intervention and prediction on who will probably go into a more aggressive form and have more challenges,” said Rohit Shetty, hospital chairman.
He said this will allow a clinician to titrate and triage the treatment better. “This biomarker work in tears is probably one of the first in the country and this could be also one of the first conjunctivitis related tear biomarker research in the world,” he claimed.
Conjunctivitis, also known as ‘pink eye’, is spreading rapidly in the city. In fact, India is currently facing an epidemic of this contagious eye infection, which spreads through contact with contaminated fluids or surfaces.
Symptoms of the condition
Symptoms of conjunctivitis include redness, itching, swelling, excessive tearing, discharge from the eyes and crusting of the eyelids. Treatment usually involves management of symptoms. This may include use of antibiotics drops, steroid drops, vitamin supplements and use of oral antibiotics depending on the severity, the doctor said.
“The cause of pink eye can be due to bacterial, viral, or allergic sources. However, the current epidemic appears to be primarily viral, specifically linked to an Adenovirus strain,” said Dr. Shetty.
“Our focus is on addressing the core of the disease and our research is aimed at achieving this goal. The diverse biomarker information obtained from conjunctivitis patients’ eye tears aids in better understanding of the condition and assisting clinicians in offering more personalised treatment plans,” he added.