04/11/2026
When a “red, gooey eye” in a 5-year-old with autism doesn’t respond to standard conjunctivitis and allergy treatments, think beyond infection or allergy—think vitamin A deficiency and xerophthalmia. 👀
This JoMO case shows how severe sensory food aversion and a carb-heavy, low-variety diet led to vision-threatening VAD, and how coordinated care with pediatrics, hematology, and feeding therapy plus vitamin A supplementation reversed the ocular findings and addressed broader nutritional risk. 🥕
Read the full case: https://swiy.io/r_A8
A 5-year-old non-verbal male with ASD presented with chronic bilateral redness, tearing, and discharge for the past several months.