I woke up this morning with itchy, red eyes and my immediate thought was “Sh*t, I guess I have ocular herpes.” I say that because my house is like a frat house, and on any given evening there are 5-10 people that I have no genetic connection to hanging around my couches and drinking my wine. With all the people coming and going, it’s just a matter of time till I get something awful (like the flu, or in this case ocular herpes).
I immediately ran to the computer to ask the internet what the symptoms of ocular herpes are.
Allaboutvision.com defines ocular herpes as, “Caused by the type 1 herpes simplex virus, eye herpes (ocular herpes) is a common, recurrent viral infection affecting the eyes. This type of herpes virus can cause inflammation and scarring of the cornea that sometimes is referred to as a cold sore on the eye. Herpes of the eye can be transmitted through close contact with an infected person whose virus is active.
The National Eye Institute (NEI) says an estimated 400,000 Americans have experienced some form of ocular herpes, with close to 50,000 new and recurring cases occurring each year.”
GEEEEZ. 400k Americans are walking around with eyeball herpz. That’s effing horrifying. The good news is for me is that upon further research, it looks like I have seasonal allergies. The bad news is that I’m probably coming into contact with people that have eyeball herpz all day.
You should be concerned if you experience:
- Swelling around the eyes
- Tearing
- Recurrent eye infections
- Irritation
- Foreign body sensation
- Eye redness
- Eye sores
- Watery discharge
Thank you, Rohto, for cleaning up my red-eye. Now I won’t be accused of skanky ocular herpes!
Pink eye is more common that ocular herpes, and contagious. Hope it cleared up!