Acute purulent conjunctivitis in Nigerian children in Zaria.

A prospective study of 61 acute purulent conjunctivitis seen in children up to 10 years of age at the Ahmadu Bello University Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria, between October 1975 and September 1976 showed H influenzae as the most common etiologic agent (26.2%), followed by S aureus (16.4%), N gonorrhoeae (14.8), and D pneumoniae (9.8%). N gonorrhoeae was the most common cause of conjunctivitis in the first month of life (43.8%) followed by S aureus (37.5%). Conjunctivitis from H influenzae occurred in older children, was more often bilateral, and had a male predilection. Gonococcal conjunctivitis occurred mostly in neonates and was largely unilateral. A good response to treatment with parenteral penicillin and topical Neosporin or chloramphenicol was noted in all the cases of gonococcal infection.