Question:medium
Which is the most common cause of neonatal blindness?
Which is the most common cause of neonatal blindness?
Show Hint
Hyperacute purulent gonococcal conjunctivitis can melt the cornea.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae
- Chlamydia trachomatis
- Klebsiella
- Enterobacter
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Focus on neonatal conjunctivitis (ophthalmia neonatorum), the conjunctival infection of the first month of life caught from the maternal genital tract during delivery.
Step 2: Two pathogens dominate: gonococcus and chlamydia. The key is severity - Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes a hyperacute, copiously purulent conjunctivitis that can melt the cornea within days, making it the leading infective cause of blindness in the newborn. That places option A as correct.
Step 3: Eliminate the rest. Chlamydia trachomatis gives a less destructive inclusion conjunctivitis with lower blinding potential, while Klebsiella and Enterobacter are infrequent and not the recognised blinding agents. Hence gonococcus is the answer.
\[\boxed{\text{Neisseria gonorrhoeae}}\]
Step 2: Two pathogens dominate: gonococcus and chlamydia. The key is severity - Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes a hyperacute, copiously purulent conjunctivitis that can melt the cornea within days, making it the leading infective cause of blindness in the newborn. That places option A as correct.
Step 3: Eliminate the rest. Chlamydia trachomatis gives a less destructive inclusion conjunctivitis with lower blinding potential, while Klebsiella and Enterobacter are infrequent and not the recognised blinding agents. Hence gonococcus is the answer.
\[\boxed{\text{Neisseria gonorrhoeae}}\]
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