Nowadays, almost everywhere you step in is a pump of cleansing gel or alcohol ready to disinfect your hands in the fight against the corona virus. But these remedies are not without danger, especially for children. “If it gets in your eyes, it can be disastrous”, warns ophthalmologist Tjeerd de Faber of the Rotterdam Eye Hospital.
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The ophthalmologist has already had a number of patients who see the disinfection device as a toy. If they press such a push button for hand gel, it can get into the eyes through the hands, sometimes even directly into the eye. But the remedies often contain more than 70 percent alcohol, which causes a chemical burn in the eyes, De Faber explains.
“In shopping centers there are often pumps with a pedal, and the drug often comes out of such a container with force. For adults it is at hand level, but for children at eye level”, the ophthalmologist explains. “They want to show how well they adhere to the corona rules, but it’s not a toy.”
‘Eats up cells’
If a child gets any disinfectant in their eyes, rinse them as soon as possible and go straight to the emergency room. “That 70, sometimes 80 percent alcohol destroys vital cells from the surface of your eye within a few minutes. You can’t just get that repaired,” says De Faber.
The complaints are terrible pain and often a red, swollen eye. The latter makes it difficult to rinse eyes quickly. “Children that you cannot properly examine at that moment should be urgently anesthetized to rinse or scrape away that stuff as quickly as possible. Ten thousand cells are made every day to cover the eye with a protective layer. cells are broken, you can go blind. Children under 7 years old can get a lazy eye, “the doctor warns.
If it happens in a shopping center or while shopping, De Faber advises to immediately grab a bottle of water from the supermarket. “Put the child on the floor, rinse and that child must be treated immediately at the emergency room or GP station.”
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