Bacterial cases are contagious as soon as symptoms appear. The child will remain contagious for as long as there is a discharge from the eye and until medical treatment begins. Viral conjunctivitis is usually contagious prior to the onset of symptoms and for as long as symptoms last. It can be difficult for a parent to know if the cause of the conjunctivitis is bacterial or viral. Additionally, the doctor will need to look inside your child's ears to see if a middle ear infection is present.
Medical treatment does decrease the time that the disease is contagious.
The antibiotic drops are usually used for children and ointment is suggested for babies. The course of treatment is about 1 week and drops are given about four times a day. The ointment treatment is given about two to three times daily, and can temporarily blur vision. Viral infections are sometimes treatable with medication, depending on the virus involved. In most cases, conjunctivitis will often go away by itself without using the prescribed eye drops or ointment, but doctors encourage medical treatment because it decreases the chance of spread of the disease.