17,195
edits
Changes
no edit summary
The '''Conjunctivitis Crisis of 1983''' is still to this day the worst outbreak of [[Pink Eye (Album)|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(Gomerblog)]</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.