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[Real Reality]

Pinkeye Feared to Spread During Chusok

An increasing number of primary students are coming down with eye infections ahead of the Chusok holidays this week, putting health officials on alert.

As of yesterday, 2,257 students from 165 elementary, middle and high schools in North Kyongsang Province have been infected with conjunctivitis, or "Apollo eye disease," double the 1,260 cases reported two days ago. More than a 1,000 of those infected were ordered to stay at home to prevent spreading the disease.

Health officials are fearful the conjunctivitis outbreak will further spread across the country as millions are expected to travel to their hometowns during the Chusok holidays.

Conjunctivitis is characterized by bloodshot, itchy eyes and is sometimes accompanied by muscular pain.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200309/kt2003090717575612020.htm

[VanIslander]

Uh, I thought this thread was about the grammatical habit of conjunction-itis, of overused 'and' 'or' 'but' in comma splices or such sentences as this.

Reports of pink eye in Canada seem to only interest overly protective parents of young children. Do Koreans dread it so much more?

When a student of mine got it, the other students wouldn't go near him, nor touch a chair or desk he may have touched. I went up to him and gave a high five.

It's no big deal, is it?

[peppermint]

It spreads like the plague here. Last year there was an epidemic and schools had to close to control it.

[schwa]

At one school I teach at, a kid got busted last year for selling his infected teardrops (500 won each) to others looking for an excuse to stay home.

[Tancred]

[On the other hand]

[KoreanLifer]

wash your hands & dont rub your eyes!

i had it 2 years ago. it is downright nasty!

i needed anti-inflammatories to keep my left eye from swelling!

i couldnt wear contact lenses for 2 months afterwards!

Elementary kids dont wash their hands anyway.no wonder it spreads like wildfire through these schools 1st.

[camel96]

Man, get this for a horror story. A few years ago I was talking to an optometrist and he told me this story about a buddy of his who came into the clinic one day with apparent conjunctivitis. So doc sends him on his way with some funky new eyedrops and says "Come back if things don't improve". A week later the guy's back with his eyes so red raw they're practically closed over. Doc checks things out under one of those big eye microscopes and what does he see...?
A big louse taking a crap into the guys eye!!!!!
Turns out the guy had had pubic lice a month or so before and at some point had scratched downstairs and then must've rubbed his eyes and ended up with some eggs in his eyelashes.
The eye problem was basically caused by an allergy to pubic lice crap....

There's definitely some scary stuff out there.

[NearlyKorean]

It's downright nasty stuff. I had it the last time it made the rounds. I don't want to get it again.

It is very contagious, and something to worry about.

See ya,
NK.

[Walter Mitty]

[Marathe]

[HardyandTiny]

this is all the westerners fault
especially the americans
especially the white americans

before THEY came to korea, koreans only used water to clean their face and they never shared a large bath towel.

[Sarah-in-Korea]

Part of the problem with its rampantness (is that a word?) is that students lose points from their school grade if they are absent from school, so turn up even if they are dying. One of my middle school students told me he'll lose 0.5% if he is absent. Now that wouldn't mean much to us when we were kids (hey, 0.5% to stay at home, watch daytime tv and eat cough lollies? Sweeeeeet!) but here it is the difference between being ranked 30th and 50th in the school so is taken very seriously.
The only way schools can curb it is to close completely so that NOBODY loses any of their grade and hense takes the day off.
It doesn't help that some schools (like my high school) don't have a drop of hot water in the whole building! How hygenic is that?!