What may increase your risk for problems from pinkeye?
Many conditions, lifestyle choices, medicines, and diseases interfere with your ability to heal or fight infection. You may be at risk for a more serious problem from your symptoms if you have any of the following. Be sure to tell your doctor.
Conditions
- Wear contact lenses
- History of eye infections
- A problem or condition present since birth (congenital defect)
- Previous eye surgery
- An eye condition that increases your risk of vision loss, such as:
- Glaucoma or macular degeneration
- Retinal detachment
- Cataracts
- Poor vision or blindness in one eye with injury to the other eye
Lifestyle choices
- Involved in day care or in a group care or group living situation
- Exposure to substances in the workplace, such as chemicals
- Alcohol abuse or withdrawal
- Drug abuse or withdrawal
- Smoking or other tobacco use
Medicines
- Blood-thinning medicines, such as warfarin, heparin, and aspirin
- Corticosteroids, such as prednisone
- Eye medicines
- Medicines to prevent organ transplant rejection
- Medicines used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
- Radiation therapy
Diseases
- Active shingles (herpes zoster) on the face
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Hemophilia
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
- Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
- Kidney disease
- Lupus
- Lyme disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Reiter's syndrome
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sjögren's syndrome
| Author: | Jan Nissl, RN, BS | Last Updated: December 6, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine Christopher J. Rudnisky, MD, FRCSC - Ophthalmology | |
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