Conjunctivitis can be diagnosed by meeting one of the following two criteria.
Criteria 1: pathogen isolated from culture of purulent exudate obtained from conjunctiva or contiguous tissues (eyelid, cornea, meibomian glands, or lacrimal glands)
Criteria 2 - both of the following:
(1) at least one of the following:
(1a) pain in conjunctiva
(1b) redness of conjunctiva
(1c) pain around eye
(1d) redness around eye
(2) one of the following:
(2a) WBCs or organisms seen on Gram stain of exudate
(2b) purulent exudate
(2c) positive antigen test on exudate or conjunctival scrapings
(2d) multinucleated giant cells seen on microscopic examination of conjunctival exudate or scrapings
(2e) positive viral culture on conjunctival exudate
(2f) diagnostic single IgM antibody titer for pathogen
(2g) fourfold increase in IgG antibody titer in paired serum samples for pathogen
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