Conjunctivitis and skin erythema. Outbreak caused by a damaged high-intensity lamp.
Eighty-one members of girls' basketball teams were exposed to ultraviolet light while sitting in the bleachers of a school gymnasium. A mercury high-intensity discharge lamp lighting the bleacher area had a hole in its outer envelope that allowed the emission of ultraviolet light. Sixty-nine (85%) of the 81 girls were affected; 49 (71%) had symptoms of conjunctivitis and 63 (91%) had symptoms of erythema.
D000061:Accidents, Home; D000293:Adolescent; D003231:Conjunctivitis / Q000209:etiology*; D004890:Erythema / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting; D008628:Mercury; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011832:Radiation Injuries; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects*
D008628:Mercury