Could my baby have an eye infection if she has a discharge from her eye?

My baby recently turned 5 weeks old and started having a discharge from her left eye. The doctor said that her tear duct is closed, which does not make any sense because I gently wipe the flow and/or build-up of crusty stuff along her eyelash area. Could this be an eye infection or something else?

It does sound as if your daughter has a blocked tear duct, the drain at the inside corner of her eye opening into the nose. Five to six per cent of infants get this. Tears are produced in the glands above the eye and flow across the eye and down. In infants, the drain duct is very small or not open at all. A build-up of tears with slowed cleansing of the eye results in infection, the crusty discharge that you see on her lashes. Massaging the tear duct after clearing the discharge gently from the inner corner of the eye can help open the duct. An antibiotic will clear up the infection. Regular treatment several times a day will clear up the condition in many cases; about 90 per cent disappear before the first birthday. If not, an eye doctor has to open the duct in a short procedure under anaesthesia, and that is usually the end of it. So keep up with the cleaning you're doing and stay in close contact with your GP until everything has cleared up.