Question
A 17-day-old male infant had three consecutive photos taken with the flashlight not turned off during photography. Could this action cause any harm to the baby’s eyes? If so, what symptoms might appear?
Answer
Flashlights pose a real threat to the eye health of children, especially infants. Since children’s lenses are not fully developed, they cannot effectively absorb strong, blinding light and various spectrums of light. Strong light can directly penetrate through the transparent lens and reach the retina. When strong light stimulates the retina, both the macula and the retina may suffer varying degrees of damage. The photoreceptor cells in the macula are particularly sensitive to the light emitted by flashlights, and harmful blue light spectrums can lead to cell death. Once these photoreceptor cells die, they cannot be regenerated or repaired. Additionally, strong light stimulation may cause temporary blindness. Therefore, when photographing children…