More than three years after the storied pink eye outbreak of 2002, the same strain of bacteria that caused the infections has appeared on campus again, according to Dick's House employees. It remains to be seen, however, whether the strain will again cause epidemic numbers of pink eye cases on campus.
Although the infection is highly contagious, the number of students affected does not seem to be nearly as high as it was in 2002, said College Health Service Director Dr. John Turco. According to Turco, the bacterial strain causes a very mild version of the infection because the immune system can ward off this particular type of bacterial cell more easily than others.
"There have been a couple of cultures that have been positive, but I don't think there's been an overwhelming number," Turco said. "I think that the majority of the ones we're seeing are probably viral."
When the College decided to culture large numbers of students three years ago, they found that many students whose cultures came up positive had not been treated because the infection was so mild and healed itself without antibiotics. Thus, it appeared more like a virus than a bacteria.Turco stressed that basic hygiene -- namely frequent hand washing and refraining from sharing personal items -- is important in slowing the spread of the bacteria around campus. Still, the infection is very contagious, which accounts for the incidence of "outbreaks" on campus.
"Just being around a lot of other students where there are viruses being passed around, your chances are increased of getting an infection," Turco said.
The appearance of the bacteria during finals period could also make a difference in how many students contract the infection.
"I think it's certainly possible that when people get run down, they're more prone to get infections. It's difficult to really track this, but we tend to see at the middle or the end of the term people come in with viral infections or other infections," Turco said.
Katie McNabb '06 and Kristine Charbonneau '05 both recently had conjunctivitis, but neither was told whether the bacteria or a virus had caused the infection, and Dick's House prescribed antibiotics to both women. McNabb said that she doesn't think the infection is quite as big a concern as people tend to think.
"Personally, I don't see the big deal. Apart from having people ask me if I'm either really high or have been crying and a 30-minute trip to Dick's House, it's really not a big deal," she said, but noted that having "my friend yelling at me every time my hand went near my face, her face or touched anything that she might need to touch later on" was a mild annoyance.
