Ocular Herpes in Children: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

Ocular herpes is an infection of the eye caused by the herpes virus. When a child has ocular herpes, her conjunctive, cornea or eye lid is the part of the eye that is usually affected.

Types

• The types of ocular herpes children suffer from include herpes keratitis, stromal keratitis and iridocyclitis.

Effects

• Children with ocular herpes will have eye swelling, irritation, reoccurring infections, light sensitivity, discharge and redness. In severe cases, they will have vision loss from scarring.

Causes

• Ocular herpes is caused by being in contact with another person who has the virus during an outbreak.

Treatments

• A doctor will prescribe antiviral eye drops and pills to treat a child who has ocular herpes. If a child has scarring from ocular herpes, a doctor will perform surgery to try to restore vision that has been lost.

Considerations

• There is no cure for ocular herpes. Treatments are only used to control outbreaks.