Aye Myat Mon*

Department of Ophthalmology, Myanmar

*Corresponding Author: Aye Myat Mon, Department of Ophthalmology, Myanmar.

Received: April 06, 2021; Published: August 06, 2021

Currently in Myanmar, countrywide mass protest is going on due to the military coup on February 1^st 2021. Police are using violent and non-violent ways to crackdown the crowd of peaceful protesters. Among them, firing tear gas bombs is one of the daily encountering dangers for protesters in Myanmar.

Tear bombs, effective lacrimating agents, are common riot control agents worldwide for nearly a century. Tear gas is also known as CS gas since the main constituent is chlorobenzylidene malononitrile. Exposure with teargas can bring ocular, respiratory and dermatological complications. Typically, ocular and respiratory tract irritation occurs within 20 - 60s of exposure. Common eye problems include watering, redness, mild pain, blepharospasm, photophobia, blurred vision, conjunctivitis and periorbital oedema. Even corneal neovascularization, persistent conjunctivalization, corneal opacities and reduced visual acuity can be seen in some victims. Regarding respiratory problems, stinging or burning sensation in the nose, tight chest, sore throat, coughing, dyspnoea and difficulty breathing can happen due to the inhalation of teargas. It can cause skin irritation, bulla formation like in burn injury depending on the distance and duration of exposure [1,2].

References

1. Schep LJ., et al. “Riot control agents: the tear gases CN, CS and OC-a medical review”. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps 2 (2015): 94-99.
2. Kim YJ., et al. “Effects of tear gases on the eye”. Survey of Ophthalmology 4 (2016): 434-442.
3. Yara Mahfud., et al. “The link between CS gas exposure and menstrual cycle issues among female Yellow Vest protesters in France”. medRxiv (2020): 20210955.
4. Adam-Troian J., et al. “Police use of force during street protests: A pressing public mental health concern”. EClinicalMedicine 26 (2020): 100509.
5. Michael Y Ni., et al. “Depression and post-traumatic stress during major social unrest in Hong Kong: a 10-year prospective cohort study”. Lancet10220 (2020): 273-284.

Citation

Citation: Aye Myat Mon. “Tear Gas Related Health Issues Concerned among Protesters in Myanmar".Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 4.9 (2021): 15-16.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Aye Myat Mon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.