With the onset of monsoon, doctors across India reported an increase in eye related problems among children. While vision issues were once considered most hereditary, experts now warn that environmental factors such as pollution, allergies and seasonal changes are emerging as a big criminal.

Spikes are visible in hospitals during the rainy season during the rainy season. “We are looking at at least three to four new cases every day during this season,” Dr. Rushb Shah, an ophthalmologist at Safa Hospital in Mumbai, says indiatoday.in

These infections spread quickly into crowded settings such as schools and public transport. Children, who often rub their eyes without washing their hands, are particularly weak. Doctors recommend handwashing in crowded areas, using masks and simple precautions to avoid eyes to cut risk.

Allergic eye state on growth: genetics to environment

This is not just an infection. Doctors are also seeing an increase in allergies conjunctivitis, in some clinics up to 20 cases a week.

Unlike bacterial or viral infections, allergic conjunctivitis is caused by pollen, dust and ups and downs humidity. Children are often present with red, itching and water eyes, making it difficult to focus in school.

The growing scientific evidence supports what doctors are seeing: The eye health of children is being compromised by the environmental trigger.

A study of 2021 in environmental research and public health showed how the cases of AED (acute eye disease) in Hyderabad were connected to weather conditions such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, air speed and pollution. Researchers at LV Prasad I Institute found that AED cases were less when rain and humidity were high, but when temperature and ground level ozone were high, there was an increase.

“Understanding these seasonal and environmental patterns can help doctors and patients to be more aware and allow healthcare providers to plan better, more overall care for people with AEDs,” said the study authors.

A Lancet Global Health Analysis (2021) reported that environmental factors such as low outdoor time, increase in screen exposure, and urban pollution are contributing to global growth in Mayopia in children, predicting that about half of the world can be myopic by 2050.

These conclusions strengthen that while genetic still plays a role, today’s children are at risk due to their surroundings.

“Earlier, we were focusing more on congenital defects. Now, most of the cases we see are clearly associated with environmental reasons such as poor hygiene, pollution and seasonal changes,” Dr. Shah says.

preventive care

Parents should no longer assume that the issues of vision in their children are purely inherited. Instead, daily habits and environmental risk are proving to be decisive.

Doctors say that preventive care is important to protect children’s health.

• Encouraging handwashing with soap and water at least three to four times a day.
• Do not teach children to touch or rub their eyes.
• Using out protective eyewear or sunglasses out.
• Wearing masks in crowded places to reduce the spread of infection.
• Eye conditions related to rising monsoon confirms that the vision problems of children are transferring from genetic to environmental origin.

As cities are dense, pollution deteriorates, and weather patterns become unexpected, eye health will depend less on family history and more on awareness and preventive action.