Introduction: Children from the developing world are more prone to going blind from avoidable and preventable causes. In Nepal, children in private schools are reported to have a higher ocular morbidity than those in government schools, with myopia being the major cause of the morbidity. This study was designed to evaluate ocular morbidity in students from both types of school. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, comparative study among students from government and private schools of Kathmandu. Eye examination was carried out evaluating visual acuity, color vision, refractive status, binocular vision status, and anterior and posterior segment findings. Results: A total of 4,228 students from government and private schools were evaluated. The prevalence of ocular morbidity was 19.56 % with refractive error (11.9 %) being the major cause of the morbidity, followed by strabismus and infective disorders. No signifi cant difference in the prevalence of ocular morbidity and refractive status was found in the students from government and private schools. Conclusions: A signifi cant number of children of school-going age have ocular morbidity with no signifi cant difference in the prevalence in the students from government and private schools. Research exploring the effect of various risk factors in the progression of myopia would be helpful to investigate the refractive status in children from these different types of schools. Keywords: Myopia, ocular morbidity, school Students

The prevalence of DR was 38 % among the admitted diabetic cases and the DR was significantly associated with the duration of diabetes and systemic hypertension. Almost half of the cases had been unaware of DR before referral. This emphasizes the importance of the collaboration of the physician and the ophthalmologist for an early DR detection.

This is a rare case of HZO associated with retrobulbar neuritis. Prompt treatment with systemic antiviral and steroid improve the visual outcome.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hren.v10i1.5997 HREN 2012; 10(1): 1-4

Pregnancy is characterized by many significant changes in a woman’s body which helps develop the fetus optimally. During pregnancy, there is marked maternal endocrine upregulation, hormonal profile modifications and interactions leading to dry eyes. Pregnancy causes most parts of a woman’s body to change, and the eyes are no exception. Dry eye disease is a common pregnancy problem that usually begins towards the end of the first trimester. Since, there is a dearth of literature on dry eye disease during pregnancy in Nepal, a study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of dry eyes disease among pregnant women and to find its association with socio-demographic characteristics and their gestation period, at Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital. A total of 84 pregnant women in different trimesters volunteered for this study. The upper and lower limits for estimated mean age were 26.67 years to 25.03 years at 95% confidence level. The prevalence of dry eyes was 89.3% by tear break up time test and 27.4% by Schirmer’s test respectively. The association between gestational age and dry eyes by Schirmer’s test was statistically significant.

Dermatitis also known as eczema, is inflammation of the skin, typically characterized by itchiness, redness and a rash. Dermatitis was estimated to affect 245 million people globally in 2015 or 3.34% of the world population. In Nepal, studies from different parts of the country have reported the prevalence of dermatitis between 15.9 to 39.2%. Severe dermatitis with repeated scratching and rubbing of the face predisposes the patient to various ocular complications. A hospital-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted to assess the overall frequency and type of ophthalmological complications among patients with dermatitis at a tertiary care hospital in Kathmandu. A total of 91 patients were enrolled for this study. The minimum age was 5 years and maximum was 78 years, with the mean of 30.48 with a standard deviation of ± 20.28. The upper and lower limits for estimated mean age were 34.63 years to 26.33 years at 95% confidence interval. Seventy-one (78.0%) of all patients had ocular manifestations, many of them had more than one manifestation. Females outnumbered the males (41.8%; 36.3%) with respect to the occurrence of ocular manifestations in dermatitis. The commonest ocular manifestations were blepharitis in 35 (38.5%) patients, followed by eyelid eczema in 13 (14.3%) patients, allergic conjunctivitis in 5 (5.5%) and patients with other manifestations. Based on professional classification, over one fourth of the participants were students accounting for 44.0%, followed by homemakers accounting for 23.1% and shopkeepers accounting for 11.1%, respectively. A statistically significant association was observed with the ocular manifestation in relation to gender (p value=0.03) and occupation (p value=0.03). However, no association was observed between ocular manifestation with duration of dermatitis (p value=0.65), type of dermatitis (p value=0.94), personal and family history of allergy/atopy (pvalues=0.26; 0.58, respectively).

Refractive error is a defect in the optical system of the eye which prevents light from being brought to a single point focus on the retina, thus reducing normal vision. This optical defect is the second most common cause of visual impairment globally as well in Nepal. At present, there are 285 million visually impaired people in the world. An estimated 4 out of 5 visual impairment (80%) can be prevented or cured, uncorrected refractive errors are the leading cause (42%) followed by cataract (33%). A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted to determine the proportion of undergraduate medical students with refractive errors in Nepal Medical College, and to identify factors associated with it. A total of 210 medical students volunteered for this study, with 100 males (47.6%) and 110 females (52.4%). The age of these students were between 18 to 26 years, with an average of 20.5 years. The proportion of medical students with refractive error was slightly more than half (51.4%), with simple myopia being the leading type (42.9%), followed by astigmatism (7.1%) and simple hypermetropia (1.4%). Parental history of refractive error was observed to be significantly associated with that of the medical students. There was also a significant association between refractive error and the daily use of mobile phones and laptops. However, years spent in medical education were not observed to be significant.

During Covid-19 Pandemic, there was declaration of lockdown which led to increased usage of digital devices due to starting of online classes. Increased duration of digital device usage predisposed students to Digital eye strain (DES). This study aimed at estimation of the prevalence of DES among medical students of Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital during Covid pandemic. It also analyzed the pattern of digital device usage, risk factors for DES, awareness and practice of preventive measures taken by students during online classes. This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey which included one hundred and sixteen undergraduate medical students. The mean age of the students was 22±1.30 years. Sixty-two students (53.4%) were male and fifty-four (46.6%) were female. There was a significant increase in the duration of digital device usage during Covid -period as compared to pre-Covid period (P=<0.001). The prevalence of the DES was 68.1% of which 60.34% had mild DES and 7.76% had moderate DES. The most common ocular symptoms were burning sensation (69.8%) followed by eyesight worsening (60.3%) and eyepain (56%). This study didn’t find significant association between DES and its risk factors like duration of digital device usage, distance from screen, posture, frequency of break and level of screen during online classes. Preventive measures like uses of lubricating eyedrop and use of anti-reflective coated glasses/ blue ray cut glasses were significantly associated with less frequency of DES (P=0.03,0.01 respectively). DES is an emerging eye health problem due to increase screentime exposure, so limitation of screentime and practice of 20-20-20 rule is recommended to reduce DES related symptoms.