Where There Is No Doctor 2011 227
♦ If the condition is already fairly severe, give the child 200,000 units of vitamin A
by mouth the first day. 200,000 units the second day, and 200,000 units 14 days
later. Babies under 1 year old should get half that amount (100,000 units).
♦ In communities where xerophthalmia is common, give 200,000 units of vitamin
A once every 6 months to women who are breastfeeding, and also to pregnant
women during the second half of their pregnancy.
WARNING: Too much vitamin A is poisonous. Do not give more than the amounts
advised here.
If the condition of the child’s eye is severe, with a dull, pitted, or bulging cornea,
get medical help. The child’s eye should be bandaged, and he should receive
vitamin A at once, preferably an injection of 100,000 units in the muscle.
Dark green leafy vegetables, and yellow or orange fruits
and vegetables, help prevent blindness in children.
SPOTS OR ‘FLIES’ BEFORE THE EYES
(MOUCHES VOLANTES)
Sometimes older persons complain of small moving spots when they look at a
bright surface (wall, sky). The spots move when the eyes move and look like tiny
flies. These spots are usually harmless and need no treatment. But if they appear
suddenly in large numbers and vision begins to fail from one side, this could be a
medical emergency (detached retina). Seek medical help at once.
DOUBLE VISION
Seeing double can have many causes.
If double vision comes suddenly, is chronic, or
gradually gets worse, it is probably a sign of a serious
problem. Seek medical help.
If double vision occurs only from time to time, it may be a sign of weakness or
exhaustion, perhaps from malnutrition. Read Chapter 11 on good nutrition and try to
eat as well as possible. If sight does not improve, get medical help.
RIVER BLINDNESS (ONCHOCERCIASIS)
This disease is common in many parts of Africa and certain
areas of southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South
America. The infection is caused by tiny worms that are carried
from person to person by small, hump backed flies or gnats
known as black flies (simulids).
The worms are ‘injected’ into a person when an infected
black fly bites him.
BLACK FLY
actual size