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The '''The Conjunctivitis Crisis of 1983''' is still to this day the worst outbreak of conjunctivitis in the history of eyeballs. On the morning of February 27, 1983, the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] reported a huge spike in cases of [[Viral Conjunctivitis|viral conjunctivitis]]. By lunchtime that day, over 200 million Americans were afflicted. In order to battle the record-breaking surge, ophthalmologists across the United States were asked to ramp up their hours: that required coming in at 8 AM (instead of 9 AM), working through lunchtime (instead of having a 2-hour lunch break), and possibly staying past 5 PM (never happens). As put by infectious diseases specialist Barbara Shields, "There were so many pink eyes that day. It was a dark time for all the ophthalmologists involved. A few of them even worked through lunch."<ref>[http://gomerblog.com/2015/12/ophthalmologist/ Ophthalmologist Accidentally Agrees to See Inpatient Consult]</ref> Since 1984, ophthalmologic clinics pay their respects to the '''Conjunctivitis Crisis of 1983''' by canceling clinic that day and playing an extra round of golf. '''Other Medical Holidays'''----- [[Battle of Malnutrition]] - [[Fourth of July]] - [[National Anal Foreign Body Awareness Day]] - [[National Bone Day]] - [[National Toss Your Pager in the Trash Day]] - [[Thanksgiving]] - [[Treaty of Drapes]] '''References'''----<references />
[[Category:Ophthalmology]]
[[Category:Medical Holidays]]