KUWAIT CITY, Oct 6: According to an Australian expert, the cause behind the "pink eye" epidemic that has affected approximately 400,000 people since the start of the year is attributed to the Covid-19 virus. Catherine Bennett, a professor of epidemiology and health at Deakin University in Australia, stated in an interview with Newsweek magazine that "pink eye" is a symptom associated with the original strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19. However, it has become less prevalent with the newer variants.

Professor Bennett further explained that in the initial waves, children were relatively spared from infection. Still, with the emergence of subsequent subvariants that were more adept at infecting children, more cases of pink eye began to surface. During April and May of this year, there was a notable increase in reports of conjunctivitis, particularly with the spread of the XBB 1.18 variant and related subvariants of Omicron in countries like the United States.

She noted that as new and highly contagious Omicron variants emerged in various countries, the total number of infections increased. This rise occurred as immunity from previous waves started to diminish, allowing the new variants to thrive undetected by the human body's immune system.