Allergic conjunctivitis
Exposed to the causative allergen, the mucosa of the eye conjunctiva is congested, becomes dropsical, itches and watered. In circumstances where the climate is hot, the weather is sunny and dry lasting 8 to 9 months per year, the pollinosis with various clinical symptoms, in general, and allergic conjunctivitis, in particular, is enduring enough, with violent clinical symptoms. Allergic conjunctivitis quite often runs with rhinitis (rhino-conjunctivitis). School-aged children often suffer from this pathology, and adolescents aged 15 to 30 rank second.
Allergic conjunctivitis is categorized into two types: seasonal and perennial which differ in causative bacterial allergens. The seasonal pollinosis conjunctivitis is mainly caused by pollen allergens, while perennial allergic conjunctivitis is provoked by the household, epidermal, insect-caused, moldy and yeasty, dietary allergens and medicament allergens, as well as air allergens. The disease occurs upon the contact with the offensive allergen, and in most cases it is followed by rhinitis.
The symptoms are usually worse for patients during the blossoming period, when the weather is dry and windy, as well as during stay in the suburban area and in other areas rich in blossoming trees and plants. The acute redness, eyelid and eye-bulb hyperemia are reported. Children often lose performance efficiency since they experience acute photophobia. Under the conditions of the hot climate this event occurs quite often and appears the distinguished symptom of allergic conjunctivitis. Patients state their grievances on itching and burning sensation in the inner angle of the palpebral fissure that spread along the eyelids followed by the feeling of tension and pain. When examined, these patients are reported to have eyelid conjunctiva and eyes swelling and hyperemia. Eye discharge is muculent. The lacrimation is sometimes excessive that stimulates the patient to have the kerchief on hand.
The run of the perennial conjunctivitis is of cyclic origin, if not caused by pollen allergens. The exacerbation phase smoothly turns to the disease-free survival. This event depends on the contact with household and epidermal allergens.
In cases when the allergic conjunctivitis is associated with other allergic diseases apart from rhinitis, the symptoms that develop show as severe with signs of pollen intoxication. Based on the popular literature, the conjunctivitis is divided into edematous caused by inhalation allergens, and follicular that relate to the cell-mediated tissular lesion mechanism, for instance, contact-associated, drug-associated, endogenous, microbial and alimentary.
We tend to term all types of conjunctivitis due to allergy causative allergens, for example, pollen-caused conjunctivitis due to medical allergy with Lyell's syndrome, so called drug-induced conjunctivitis, etc.