Pinkeye Cases At Other Universities Have BU On Guard

With the end of the school year fast approaching, the last thing students want is to get sick. But with recent pinkeye alerts at two Ivy League colleges, both students and administrators said yesterday they are on guard for the infection’s spread to Boston University.

According to Khatija Shah, a registered nurse working at Student Health Services, pinkeye is a problem on college campuses year-round.

“It’s very contagious and very common in large communities like we have here,” Shah said. “We see cases 12 months of the year. It’s always a problem.”

Princeton University and Dartmouth College have both experienced an unusually high number of cases of conjunctivitis, commonly called pinkeye. A Harvard Crimson article noted that since January, 500 cases of pinkeye have been diagnosed at Dartmouth.

So far, Shah said BU is unaffected by the epidemic, as far as she can tell.

“I don’t have statistics, but so far it has not been noticeable,” she said.

Jon Singer, a CAS freshman, also doubted the infection had reached campus.

“I don’t know anyone who’s had pinkeye here,” Singer said. “I don’t even know much about pinkeye in general. Calling it a ‘potential outbreak’ sounds pretty frightening. BU’s a big school, and that could affect a lot of people.”

Symptoms of the illness include a reddish color and discharge from the eye, Shah said.

“Sometimes it is very hard to open an infected eye in the morning,” Shah said. “They get sticky and gunky.”

To avoid becoming infected, students should not share personal items like towels, pillowcases and eye makeup, Shah said.

“A student may not have the disease but still be infected,” Shah said.

She also stressed the importance of washing hands regularly, particularly after hand and eye contact, and trying to avoid hand and eye contact completely. Shah said while pinkeye spreads rapidly, it can be easily treated overnight with a few doses of antibiotic ointment. However, in rare cases, untreated pinkeye can lead to blindness, she said.

“If anyone thinks they have it, [they should] come and have it checked out,” Shah said. “Pinkeye is very easily cured, and it is also very easily prevented.”