Bacterial conjunctivitis in Baghdad – Iraq

Background: Conjunctival inflammation may be result of infection with bacterial or viral agents or allergic or toxic reactions. The bacterial cause is responsible of twofold higher rate compared to viruses as a cause of acute conjunctivitis. Objective: The aim of the study is to highlight about the epidemiological and the clinical aspects of the conjunctivitis in Iraq. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional retrospective study carried out in Children welfare teaching hospital, from the first of November 2012 to the thirty of April 2013 was conducted on 31 patients, their age ranged from 1 day to 15 years presented with conjunctivitis. Results: The study showed that31 children with conjunctivitis with male predominant (61.3%) while female (38.7%). The common age of presentation for those between one year and six years accounts was (35.49%).More than half of the patients (34.83%) had associated fever, about 2/3 of the patients (67.74%) suffered from runny nose, (41.94%) of the sample had purulent discharge, with (77.42%) had injected conjunctivae. The result of gram stain reveals Gram positive cocci in 8 cases, Gram positive bacilli in 3 cases. And the most effective antibiotic in the treatment of isolated microorganisms are rifampicin and norfloxacin. Conclusions: The most common age group affected was between 1-6 years, high incidence of conjunctivitis due to Haemophilus influenzae microorganism may be decreased by Haemophilus influenzae vaccine and the most effective antibiotics were norfloxacin and rifampicin.