The Pink Eye Epidemic
Emery Wright was walking through the Washington & Lee campus on a beautiful fall day, unable to enjoy the changing leaves or wave to a friend. That’s because her right eye was crusted shut and swollen for the third time in the past three weeks.
Wright, a sophomore, is one of dozens of students affected by the worst school-wide pink eye epidemic in years. Dr. Jane Horton, director of Student Health and Counseling Services, has seen between 50 and 100 cases in the last two months alone.
This pink eye epidemic is so contagious because the majority of the cases are viral, not bacterial.
“The viruses get transmitted in the environment very easily, more easily than bacterial,” Dr. Horton said. “It can come with a cold and spread quickly.”
Bacterial pink eye is only spread by contact with a contaminated individual or a certain bacteria. Viral pink eye, on the other hand, is an airborne virus and can be spread by sneezing and coughing.
The most common symptoms of pink eye, also referred to as conjunctivitis, are redness, swelling, and itchiness of the eyes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although highly contagious, most viral cases clear up in a week or two without treatment.
“The last time it was this extreme was over ten years ago,” Horton said. “The nurse and I had to go down the line as students were waiting for graduation and put drops in all of their eyes because it was that bad.”
Wright is constantly scared she’ll get pink eye again. The paranoia may be worse than the pink eye itself. She feels sure she’ll get pink eye a fourth time.
“Falling asleep terrifies me,” Wright said. “I don’t know if I’m going to wake up blind with my eyes sealed shut.”
Along with eye-drops, the doctors advised her to stay clean by washing her hands and wiping down surfaces. Wright has taken sanitation to a whole new level.
“I went through three rolls of Clorox wipes in under a month,” she said. “My hands were so dry and cracked from constant disinfecting that they looked like alligator skin.”
Germs are spread easily through touching doorknobs and sharing bathrooms, especially at a small school, Dr. Horton said.
She’s not surprised that illnesses are spreading quickly throughout dorms. Everyone lives in such close quarters, she said.
First-years tend to take sickness harder because they’re still adjusting to college and haven’t truly cared for themselves before.
Virginia Harrison, a first-year student, tried to avoid pink eye when over half of her hall in the Graham-Lees dorm became infected. “I’m a clean freak,” she said. “I did everything possible to not get it. But what do you know? I did.”
She woke up one morning with one eye sealed shut, which made her look like a “cyclops,” she said.
The next morning, it had spread to her other eye as well.
Harrison had not been prepared for any illnesses and didn’t know how to handle it. She skipped several classes in fear that she would spread it, leaving her very behind in schoolwork.
Three weeks after she had finally recovered from pink eye, Harrison’s hall became infected again.
“It was like a constant circle of pink eye. I couldn’t escape,” she said.
“It was like a constant circle of pink eye. I couldn’t escape.”
Ayo Ehindero, a junior, gained some insight as to why first-years take illnesses so harshly during her time as a Resident Advisor. RAs live in a first-year hall and serve as a liaison between administration and first-year students while supporting them through their college experience.
“Freshman year is like being put in preschool. You’re in close quarters, everything’s new, everyone’s trying to figure everything out. It’s inevitable that you’re going to share germs,” she said. “Freshmen don’t have the best hygiene, either. I used to walk through the hall spraying Lysol wherever I went.”
Harrison had never had pink eye before and was desperate to get rid of it.
“I went to the Health Center and they didn’t prescribe me any eye-drops. I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Many students get frustrated and turn to Urgent Care if the Health Center doesn’t immediately prescribe medication, Dr. Horton said.
The Health Center doesn’t hand out prescriptions easily because if students take medication every time they develop an illness, it does them more harm than good, Dr. Horton said. Tolerances develop quickly, so if students take medication often, it may no longer be effective when they really need it.
“One thing we accomplish is helping students take care of themselves,” Dr. Horton said. “Hopefully, by the time they’re seniors, they won’t be coming in for a routine cold that just needs over the counter medication. This round of pink eye can be treated easily with over the counter drops. The most important thing, though, is hygiene.”
Some students don’t go to the Health Center at all because they are too impatient.
“If a student calls and we tell them there are no more appointments today but they can come tomorrow, they likely go to Urgent Care because they don’t want to wait,” Dr. Horton said.
Sophomore Amanda Pinckney was so desperate for immediate care when she got pink eye that she drove herself to the nearest CVS while visually impaired.
“Friday night I drove myself to CVS to get medication, and I have no idea how I even got there,” Pinckney said. “With all of the stuff in my eyes, everything was a blur. It was clear and sunny out, but it all looked like fog.”
The pharmacy at CVS prescribed Pinckney with eye drops, but even that didn’t seem to help. “It kept getting exponentially worse. It looked like I was crying. Well, I probably was crying it hurt so bad,” she said.
“[Pink eye]’s been steady for the last few weeks and hasn’t declined. I’m hoping Thanksgiving break will start to put an end to it,” Horton said. “At least it’s better than the nausea and diarrhea bug.”
