Question

Recently, I’ve been feeling discomfort in my eyes, accompanied by frequent tearing and a burning sensation. Some people suspect it might be viral keratitis. What symptoms does this disease present after onset?

Answer

Viral keratitis can be classified into various types, with different symptoms for each type. Here are two common types of symptoms:

  1. Map-Dot Keratitis (MAP Keratitis): This type of keratitis causes the lesion to spread to the surrounding and deep stroma, forming irregular gray map-like or amoeboid ulcers.
  2. Dendritic Keratitis: During acute exacerbations, patients often experience photophobia, tearing, eye pain, and a sensation of foreign bodies. Initially, punctate staining appears on the corneal surface, leading to the formation of small vesicles in the epithelium, which appear as punctate, linear, or stellate patterns, known as dendritic herpes. After these vesicles rupture, epithelial sloughing results in shallow grooves. Subsequently, the lesions connect and merge to form furrows, resembling branches. The ends of the branches may show clefts.