The differences between keratitis and conjunctivitis are different sites of onset, different etiologic factors, different symptoms, and different treatments.
1. Different parts of the disease: keratitis occurs in the corneal tissue, conjunctivitis occurs in the conjunctiva.
2. Different causes: keratitis can be caused by infections, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, etc. It can also be caused by other diseases of the body or inflammation of neighboring tissues.
Conjunctivitis can be caused by bacterial, viral, chlamydial and other microbial infections, but also by physical stimulation, chemical damage, immune lesions, systemic diseases, the spread of inflammation in neighboring tissues and other factors.
3. Symptoms are different: the common symptoms of keratitis are eye pain, photophobia, blepharospasm, tearing, vision loss, purulent secretion, etc.. The common symptoms of conjunctivitis include foreign body sensation, itchy eyes, burning sensation, photophobia, tearing and so on.
4. Different treatments: keratitis can be treated with medication according to the cause of the disease, such as bacterial keratitis can be used under the guidance of the doctor cephalosporin, tobramycin and other antibiotics, fungal keratitis can be used amphotericin, itraconazole and other antifungal drugs, herpes simplex viral keratitis can be used to ganciclovir, acyclovir and so on. If the patient’s medications are ineffective or perforation occurs, corneal transplantation may be performed.
Patients with conjunctivitis also require medications based on the cause, such as tobramycin, levofloxacin, ribavirin, erythromycin, and azithromycin, and usually do not require surgery.
Patients with similar symptoms must seek timely medical examination to clarify the cause of the disease and then symptomatic treatment.