The term “keratitis” refers to an inflammation of the cornea (clear covering at the front of the eye). When you look at the color of a person’s eye, you are looking through the clear cornea to the colored iris, which is inside the eye. The cornea is an extremely sensitive tissue. This is why you immediately blink when something touches your eye, or even if you think something is going to touch your eye.
One of the most common forms of keratitis is produced by the herpes virus. There are different types of herpes infections. Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) usually causes cold sores and eye infections. HSV-2 is usually, but not always, the cause of sexually transmitted herpes infections. There is another type of herpes virus called Herpes Zoster, which is the cause of a painful rash known as “shingles.”
When shingles affects the face, there may be an associated herpes infection or inflammation in the eye on the…show more content…
It can come back even after it has been successfully treated. This usually happens during a generalized illness, when all herpes viruses are prone to flare up. The inflammation can also spread to the inside of the eye, causing scarring. The side effects of such scarring can result in complications and such conditions as glaucoma and cataracts.
It is very important to know exactly what type of keratitis you have, and to know the cause of any red eye. This is because certain medicines, which are commonly used as eye drops, can make a herpes keratitis infection much worse very fast. Steroid drops (prednisone) for instance, can rapidly make a herpes infection worse, if used at the wrong time, while the virus is still active.
TREATMENT
Medicines are available for the treatment of herpes keratitis. The medicines used will depend on how much of the eye is involved. It may also depend on whether there is live virus still in the
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