On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• Images

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Conjunctivitis is the medical name for pink eye. It involves inflammation of the outer layer of the eye and inside of the eyelid. It can cause swelling, itching, burning, discharge, and redness. Causes include:

• Bacterial or viral infection
• Allergies
• Substances that cause irritation
• Contact lens products, eye drops, or eye ointments

Pink eye usually does not affect vision. Infectious pink eye can easily spread from one person to another. The infection will clear in most cases without medical care, but bacterial pink eye needs treatment with antibiotic eye drops or ointment.

NIH: National Eye Institute

Start Here

• Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Pink Eye (National Eye Institute) Also in Spanish
• Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Dilating Eye Drops (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)

Treatments and Therapies

• Choosing Wisely When It Comes to Eye Care: Antibiotics for Pink Eye (American Academy of Ophthalmology)

Specifics

• What Are Eye Allergies? (American Academy of Ophthalmology)

Images

• Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis) (VisualDX)

Statistics and Research

• Eye Health Data and Statistics (National Eye Institute) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Conjunctivitis (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: New-onset conjunctivitis 3.5 years post SARS-CoV-2 infection in an inner-city population...
• Article: Conjunctivitis in Adults with Atopic Dermatitis Treated with Dupilumab: An Observational...
• Article: Real-World pharmacovigilance analysis of drug-related conjunctivitis using the FDA adverse event...
• Pink Eye -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• National Eye Institute

Children

• Pink Eye in Newborns (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Pinkeye (Conjunctivitis) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Pinkeye (Conjunctivitis) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Allergic conjunctivitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Conjunctivitis or pink eye (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vernal conjunctivitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish