Schools closed over outbreak of conjunctivitis

By Siraj Khan/ Phadindra Adhikari/Radha Krishna Dumre,Nepalgunj/Lekhnath/Waling, Aug. 9: Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City and Khajura Rural Municipality have closed the schools after the cases of conjunctivitis increased rapidly.

According to Gorakh Bahadur Thapa, chief of the education section of Nepalgunj, it was decided to close the private and community schools at the local level from Wednesday to Friday.

"Conjunctivitis has spread at the community level, and students are the most affected. Since the disease is communicable, schools have been closed to contain its spread," said Thapa.

Local levels of Banke informed that the guardians of the students had requested them to close the schools for a couple of days until the risk declined.

Some teachers were also infected with the disease, authorities shared.

"Conjunctivitis has affected students in all the schools at the local level. To prevent it from spreading further, the schools will only reopen on Sunday," said Arjun Subedi, chief administrative officer of Khajura.

Kohalpur Municipality informed that it was also discussing whether to give a holiday or not as some students have been infected with conjunctivitis.

"Around 200 children are visiting our hospital on a daily basis. Conjunctivitis is spreading at a worrying rate across the district," said Mobin A. Siddiqi, an ophthalmic assistant at the Nepalgunj-based Fateh Bal Eye Hospital.

Likewise, Pokhara Metropolitan City has also announced school holiday until Friday due to the disease.

Hem Prasad Acharya, chief of the education division of the metropolis, informed that the decision was made after a discussion among stakeholders held at the Kaski District Administration Office on Monday.

"Some schools have already closed because of the eye infection among students and teachers. The situation of the infection until Saturday will be analysed to decide whether or not to extend the holiday," said Acharya.

Meanwhile, health officials in Syangja said that the disease  had been spreading in the district for a week now.

"At least 30-35 patients with conjunctivitis have been visiting our eye centre daily recently," said Tej Gurung, chief of Waling-based Syangja District Eye Treatment Centre.

Similarly, the ophthalmic department in the Syangja District Hospital and the Chapakot Municipal Hospital are also seeing over a dozen visitors with conjunctivitis daily.

Health officials informed that the majority of individuals suffering from conjunctivitis in Syangja were children.