Ravneet Pannu¹, Balbir Singh², Anand Aggarwal¹*, Rajinder S Khalsa¹, Paavan Kalra³, Kamlinder Kaur¹, Talvir Sidhu¹, P L Jindal⁴, Ishwar Singh¹ and Sonika Bansal¹

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Government Medical College, Patiala, India
²Director, Guru Teg Bahadur Superspecialty Eye Hospital, Patiala and Honorable Health Minister, Vidhan Sabha Punjab, Chandigarh, India
³Director, Smt. Shanti Devi Eye Hospital, Yamunanagar, Haryana, India
⁴Chief Medical Officer, Dera Hospital, Beas, India

*Corresponding Author: Anand Aggarwal, Department of Ophthalmology, Government Medical College, Patiala, India.

Received: March 14, 2023; Published: March 23, 2023

Abstract

Purpose: To study socio-demographic profile, clinical presentation and management, drug compliance and side effects in patients with Allergic Conjunctivitis at a tertiary Eye centre in Department of Ophthalmology, Government Medical College, Patiala.

Methods: In a prospective single centre study, 250 patients of AC fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled after taking written informed consent. Their proper history was taken and clinical examination was done. Follow-up was done on 3^rd day, 7^th day, 14^th day and subsequently at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months duration.

Results: SAC (52.4%) was the most common type of AC, followed by PAC (28.8%), VKC (11.6%), GPC (3.2%), AKC (2.8%) and CABC (1.2%). AC mostly affected young population, with females (61.2%) more in number than males. Itching (92.5%) was the most common symptom of AC, followed by watery eye (78.8%), frequent eye rubbing (74.4%), redness (72.4%). About half (49.2%) of patients had exacerbations in spring and summer seasons. 49(19.6%) patients had associated atopic condition; and 123 (49.2%) patients had a precipitating factor. 203 (81.2%) patients received more than one drug in treatment. Some cases of complications of AC were encountered like corneal abrasions (9.6%), amblyopia (2%) and secondary keratoconus (2.4%).

Conclusion: An understanding of epidemiology of allergic conjunctivitis is essential as it involves certain modifiable and treatable environmental conditions. It can impair quality of life to varying degrees and some cases may require multidisciplinary approach for management.

 Keywords: Allergic Conjunctivitis; Seasonal Allergic Conjunctivitis; Perennial Allergic Conjunctivitis; Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis

References

1. Bielory BP., et al. “Management of seasonal allergic conjunctivitis: Guide to therapy”. Acta Ophthalmology 90 (2012): 399-407.
2. Rathi VM and Murthy SI. “Allergic conjunctivitis”. Community Eye Health 30 (2017): S7-S10.
3. Small P and Kim H. “Allergic rhinitis”. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 7 (2011): S3-S3.
4. La Rosa M., et al. “Allergic conjunctivitis: A comprehensive review of the literature”. Italian Journal of Pediatrics 39 (2013): 18.
5. Sofi RA and Mufti A. “Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis in Kashmir: A temperate zone”. International Ophthalmology 36 (2016): 875-879.
6. Saboo US., et al. “Demographic and clinical prole of vernal keratoconjunctivitis at a tertiary eye care center in India”. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology 61 (2013): 486-489.
7. Schmid KL and Schmid LM. “Ocular allergy: Causes and therapeutic options”. Clinical and Experimental Optometry 83 (2000): 257-270.
8. Leonardi A., et al. “Management of ocular allergy”. Allergy 74 (2019): 1611-1630.
9. Attas-Fox L., et al. “Topical tacrolimus 0.03% ointment for intractable allergic conjunctivitis: an open-label pilot study”. Current Eye Research 33 (2008): 545-549.
10. Uchio E., et al. “Demographic aspects of allergic ocular diseases and evaluation of new criteria for clinical assessment of ocular allergy”. Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology2 (2008): 291-296.
11. Leonardi A., et al. Clinical and Experimental Allergy 45 (2015): 1118-1125.
12. Bielory L., et al. “ICON: Diagnosis and management of allergic conjunctivitis”. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology2 (2020): 118-134.
13. Geraldini M., et al. “Epidemiology of ocular allergy and co-morbidities in adolescents”. Journal of Pediatrics (Rio J). 89 (2013): 354-360.
14. Kausar A., et al. “Epidemiological Aspects Of Allergic Conjunctivitis”. Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad 1 (2022): 135-140.
15. Patel NP., et al. “Urban vs rural residency and allergy prevalence among adult women: Iowa Women's Health Study”. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology6 (2018): 654-660.
16. Jalbert I and Golebiowski B. “Environmental aeroallergens and allergic rhino-conjunctivitis”. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology5 (2015): 476-481.
17. Kumah DB., et al. “Prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis among basic school children in the Kumasi Metropolis (Ghana): a community-based cross-sectional study”. BMC Ophthalmology 15 (2015): 69.
18. Palmares J., et al. “Allergic conjunctivitis: a national cross-sectional study of clinical characteristics and quality of life”. European Journal of Ophthalmology2 (2010): 257-264.
19. Kosrirukvongs P., et al. “Allergic conjunctivitis”. Asian Pacific Journal of Allergy and Immunology 4 (2001): 237-244.
20. Choi H and Lee SB. “Nonseasonal allergic conjunctivitis in the tropics: experience in a tertiary care institution”. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation 4 (2008): 141-145.
21. Köberlein J., et al. “Determinants of patient compliance in allergic rhinoconjunctivitis”. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology3 (2011): 192-199.

Citation

Citation: Anand Aggarwal., et al. “Epidemiological Study of Allergic Conjunctivitis in a tertiary Eye Care Centre in North India".Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 6.4 (2023): 30-39.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Anand Aggarwal., et al. 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.