Health Conditions

What is on the horizon?

Treatment options for allergic seasonal conjunctivitis have expanded in recent years. Most notable are the oral antihistamines, such as loratidine and cetirizine, which are both now available over-the-counter. These oral antihistamines can be helpful in preventing allergic conjunctivitis when used appropriately prior to the presentation of symptoms.

Recently, an ophthalmic drop that is an antihistamine and a mast cell stabilizer was approved for over-the-counter use as a long-term treatment for patients with allergic conjunctivitis. This product, Zaditor, with the active ingredient ketotifen, is the first available over-the-counter product for long-term treatment of allergic conjunctivitis since past over-the-counter products containing other ingredients such as decongestants are not safe for more than short-term use.

Newer antibiotics are being evaluated for their effectiveness in the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis. These new developments will provide physicians with more options for treatment. It is probable that the newer antibiotics will have less side effects and a shorter duration of treatment time for patients with this condition.

One example is the newer antibiotic ophthalmic drop that contains the macrolide antibiotic azithromycin. This product's advantage is that it can be administered twice daily for the first two days of therapy and then once daily for the remainder of the therapy. Other antibiotic drops require administration between three and four times daily, sometimes more which can decrease compliance.