McKinley Health Center is warning students to see a doctor if they experience symptoms of “viral conjunctivitis,” or pink eye, after a recent spike in reported cases over the past two weeks.

“We indeed have been seeing many cases of pink eye,” said David Lawrance, medical director for McKinley. “The numbers seemed higher last week and the week before than this week.”

Lawrance said McKinley could not release any specifics on the number of cases that have been reported.

He also said McKinley has been offering immediate treatment to any students experiencing symptoms, but not out of any sense of danger or fear.

“We’ve been offering same-day appointments to everyone who has called us about a red eye, not because we think that what has been going around is dangerous, but because there are also other causes of red eye that are dangerous,” Lawrance said.

Although pink eye has not been proving dangerous, Lawrance said it is contagious and easily transmittable

“It is probably contagious from a day before [the] onset of symptoms [to] until symptoms have cleared, [which can be] up to a week later,” Lawrance said.

He clarified that not everyone with a red eye necessarily has the harmless type. However, if someone doesn’t have eye pain and if they have some other cold symptoms, they “very likely” do have the harmless kind – as in the recent influx of pink eye at the University.

Several different viruses cause pink eye. Lawrance said the cases McKinley has been seeing seem to be associated with one or more cold symptoms – including a runny nose, sore throat and cough,

“Adenovirus is famous for causing all of these symptoms, so I assume that it is the cause,” Lawrance said. “It seems to run its course within a week, and it always seems to clear up no matter how it is treated.”

Students should exercise caution – the pink eye virus can be found in tears and saliva – and can spread through touching, coughing and sneezing.

“If someone touches their eyes, nose, or mouth, that transfers the virus to their hands, and when they touch a shared object, they have created a route to infect others, either through touch, coughing, sneezing, kissing, or through a shared object,” Lawrance said.

Pink eye can be prevented with “good and frequent hand washing, not sharing eating utensils, cups or bottles, covering coughs, and trying not to touch the eyes, nose or mouth,” Lawrance added.

Contact wearers should stop wearing contacts, and students who prepare or serve food or work with children should not work while infected.