I Thought I Caught Eye Flu from a Glance — Turns Out I Was Totally Wrong

A few weeks ago, my neighbor showed up with one fiery red eye and warned me not to look at him too long — “You’ll catch it just by eye contact,” he said half-joking, half-serious. I laughed awkwardly but then... I actually started to worry. Is that true? Can eye flu spread just from looking at someone?

I dove into the topic, and what I found was both surprising and a little frustrating: the myth is stronger than the science. Turns out, a lot of people believe this — but it’s just not how it works.

Eye flu, or viral conjunctivitis, looks dramatic, which probably feeds the myth. But it spreads the old-fashioned way: dirty hands, shared towels, makeup, phones — basically, through direct or surface contact. The myth that you can “catch it from a look” just isn’t true, and this article explains it well:
https://askdocdoc.com/articles/742-can-eye-flu-spread-just-by-looking-understanding-eye-flu-transmission

One of the best breakdowns I saw was in this recent Threads post:
https://www.threads.com/@askdocdoc/post/DMaW0BJqNGd

This tweet cleared it up too:
https://twitter.com/1881713393369030656/status/1947650584569315617

And here's a really helpful infographic I found on Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/928445279436282681

Instagram had a solid reminder that eye flu is not airborne:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMaW0MdoSAZ/

Facebook laid out simple do's and don'ts that actually help:
https://www.facebook.com/122099392514743210/posts/122134105208743210

And LinkedIn even took on the stigma angle, which I hadn’t thought about before:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/askdocdoc_contrary-to-common-fears-eye-flu-doesnt-activity-7353416365480812544-WFyc?