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Context: Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) is a highly contagious acute conjunctival infection caused by adenovirus. In the 3rd week of July 2023, we observed a surge in the number of patients with EKC in North India. Identifying cases of EKC and controlling its spread are important for preventing larger outbreaks. Aims: The aim of this study was to know the pattern of presentation and laboratory investigation in cases of EKC during a recent outbreak. Materials and Methods: All patients with features of conjunctivitis were examined and investigated. Demographic data and clinical features were recorded. We also collected data on potential exposure through nonstructured interviews. Conjunctival swab and blood sample were collected from two patients for adenovirus qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and for other conjunctivitis virus panel PCR. Statistical Analysis Used: The characteristics of the EKC cases were described in terms of frequency (n) and percentage (%). The prevalence of EKC was calculated by dividing the number of EKC cases by the total number of patients visiting the clinic during the study period. Results: A total of 387 cases of EKC were reported out of the 2876 patients during the study period of 6 days (prevalence rate = 13.45%). The mean age of the patients was 30.69 ± 20.65 years. All patients complained of redness (n = 387, 100%) and a foreign body sensation (n = 334, 86.3%). The most common sign was conjunctival congestion in 100% of the cases. Four patients had superficial punctate keratitis, three had subepithelial haze, two had pseudomembrane, and one had atypical dacryoadenitis. Of the 387, 291 (75.2%) patients were definitively exposed to acute conjunctivitis within the family or workplace. Adenovirus was detected in both samples of conjunctival swab in real-time PCR; however, blood specimens tested were negative for adenovirus. Conclusions: The recent outbreak of EKC in India is highly contagious and due to adenovirus. The patient should be educated about the contagious nature of EKC and aware that it is easily transmitted by contact.

Purpose: To determine the safety and efficacy of manual small-incision cataract surgery (MSICS) for brunescent and black cataracts in patients with other ocular comorbidities. Methods: Medical records of patients with hard cataracts (grade 4 nuclear opalescence and above) with other ocular comorbidities such as spheroidal degeneration of the cornea (SDC), pseudoexfoliation (PXF), non-dilating pupil, and high myopia who underwent MSICS were retrieved retrospectively. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were noted. Preoperative and postoperative visual outcome comparisons were performed using paired t-tests. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: A total of 124 cataract patients with brunescent or black cataracts and other ocular comorbidities underwent surgery during the study period. They ranged in age from 56 to 89 years (mean: 68.9 + 11.9 years), with 55.66% (n = 69) of the patients being female and 44.35% (n = 55) male. Of the 124 cases, 45.16% (n = 56) had SDC, 31.45% (n = 39) had PXF, 14.51% (n = 18) had non-dilating pupils, and 8.87% (n = 11) had high myopia. Preoperatively all patients had visual acuity 6/18, 16.9% had a borderline vision (6/18–6/60), and 5.6% had a poor vision (

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of spheroidal degeneration of cornea (SDC) and its association with other eye diseases in the tribes of South-West Rajasthan. Methods: A total of 5012 patients were examined on slit lamp for the diagnosis of SDC. Diagnosis of SDC was made based on presence of amber granules in the superficial stroma of peripheral interpalpebral cornea with increasing opacification, coalescence and central spread or nodular and hazy surrounding stroma and divided in three stages. Results: The prevalence of SDC was 10.7%. Around 55% of the total of 535 cases examined were found to have Stage I followed by Stage II (32%) and Stage III (13%). The prevalence is greatest in both men and women over 70 years of age. The severity of SDC is greater in men. SDC was significantly associated with pterygium and pseudocapsular exfoliation. Conclusion: Extreme temperature, low humidity, dust, high wind, and microtrauma caused by sand particles are the probable etiologies for higher prevalence of this kind of degeneration in this region.

Background: Teleophthalmology has the potential to facilitate wider access to expert advice. It includes viewing of ophthalmic images by experts either on handheld devices like smartphones/tablets or office devices such as computer screens. However, to ensure rapid feedback, the turnaround time of any consultation must be kept to a minimum which requires use of handheld user-friendly devices. The purpose of this study was to assess whether images of different eye ailments viewed on smartphones and tablets are of comparable subjective quality as those viewed on a computer screen. Methods: This was a prospective study comparing the subjective quality of images on a smartphone, tablet and computer screen. Thirty images were analysed – 10 of extraocular morphology, 10 of the anterior segment pathology and 10 of retinal diseases. Ten ophthalmologists participated and were instructed to rate the overall quality of each image on a 7-point Likert scale (terrible-1, poor-2, average-3, fair-4, good-5, very good-6, excellent-7). Results: Overall smartphones were found to have higher ratings of subjective image quality (5.9 ± 0.48) than images displayed on tablets (5.13 ± 0.51) and computers (5.0 ± 0.37). The images were rated ‘good’ or ‘very good’ in all (100%) of the smartphone images. Fundus images and extraocular images were rated higher than anterior segment images on the smartphone. When comparing the two handheld devices with computers, both smartphones and tablets had similar image quality (p > 0.05, not significant) to computer images. However, for extraocular diseases, smartphone (6.1 ± 0.32) had significantly better image quality and images were easier to interpret compared to images on the computer (p < 0.05). Smartphones were rated ‘very good’ in 88.33% cases. All consultants (n = 10) were comfortable with the use of smartphone images and were already using it for teleconsultation at least three times in a month. Vision technicians reported minimum delay in getting advice when sending the images on mobile application to expert ophthalmologists. Conclusion: Smartphones can be used for teleconsultation. Subjective qualities of ophthalmic images on a smartphone are similar to those on tablets and computers. For rural communities that rely on teleconsultation, this small study provides useful evidence which may support the use of smartphones, tablets or computers for viewing ophthalmic images.