Burden of Ocular Infections in the Andaman Islands, India: An Overview of Clinical and Epidemiological Factors from 2017- 2021

• Nisha Beniwal,  
• Kannan Thiruvengadam,  
• Baljeet Saharan,  
• Rehnuma Parvez,  
• Vineeta Malik,  
• NAGARAJAN MURUGANANDAM*

Abstract

Purpose: To know the burden of infectious and non-infectious agents associated with ocular infection in pre pandemic and Covid-19 pandemic period with special emphasis on clinical presentation. Methods: Demographic, clinical and associated comorbidities, details were collected from the patients presenting to the ophthalmologist in Andaman Islands from August 2017- August 2021. Collected data were statistically computed by using STATA v15.1(Stata Corporation, College Station, TX, USA). Results: Ocular infections were found in 50.6% of 10,519 kerato-conjunctivitis patients. The highly affected cohort was aged 31 to 40 years (20.10 %) . No significant gender distribution difference was seen. Among 70% of cases unilaterality was common. The main clinical complaints were erythema (47.5%), lacrimation (41.2%), and pruritus (26.5%). 32.9% had discomfort, and 10% reported decreased eyesight. Additionally, 1,321 of 5,319 patients were using glasses. Additionally, 9.8% (520 people) had hypertension and 9.3% had diabetes. This investigation identified significant clinical and demographic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: This study contributes to improved prevention, control strategies and enhances diagnostic accuracy by analysing diverse clinical-epidemiological factors of keratoconjunctivitis in Andaman Islands.

Keywords

Ocular infections, sterile and non-sterile conditions, infectious conjunctivitis, viral conjunctivitis, bacterial conjunctivitis