With the viral conjuctivitis outbreak wreaking havoc in Karonga, the district health office (DHO) has warned residents who have the condition commonly called ‘pink eye’ against using home remedies to treat the disease.

In an interview on Tuesday, Director of Health Services for Karonga, David Sibale, said reports reaching his office indicate that people have resorted to using unconventional ways to treat themselves.

The district has recorded 3,147 cumulative cases with 11 cases where patients have vision loss.

“Sadly, we have noted that people are using things like urine and hand sanitisisers to treat themselves. This is very dangerous as urine contains a lot of bacteria, and pouring this into the eye, you will end up with serious eye conditions and even irreversible blindness,” he said.

Sibale warned that it is possible to get gonorrhea in the eyes if they get in contact with infected fluids like urine leading to partial or complete loss of vision.

The DHO has intensified health talks in camps where flood victims are living to contain further spread of the disease.

Esther Mapomba, a flood survivor staying at Kambwe Noil Camp, said she learnt of the remedy years ago from her grandparents and alot of people are using it to treat themselves.

“Besides that, even if we go to a hospital or even here at the camp, there is no medicine provided to treat people with this condition. We are in pain, so we use urine which gives a burning feeling but helps clear up the eye and within two days you come back normal,” Mapomba said.

A Karonga resident, Lumbani Mtawali, who has contracted the disease twice said he used his urine to wash his eyes the second time and claimed the strategy worked effectively.