Symptoms:

• Red, irritated, and painful eye (looks like "pink eye")
• Fever
• General ill-feeling
• Increased tearing (possible)
• Swelling of nearby lymph glands (often in front of the ear)

Signs and tests:

An examination shows:

• Fever and other signs of illness
• Red, tender, inflamed eye
• Tender lymph nodes may be present in front of the ear
• There may be growths (conjunctival nodules) on the inside of the eylid or the white of the eye

Blood tests will be done to check for infection. A white blood cell count may be high or low, depending on the cause of the infection.

Blood tests to check antibody levels is the main method used to diagnose many of the infections that cause POS. Other tests may include:

• Biopsy of the lymph node
• Laboratory culture of eye fluids, lymph node tissue, or blood