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Reusable contact lenses triple risk of corneal eye infection, says study

Over two hundred individuals from Moorfields Eye Hospital were surveyed for the study; 83 of them had been diagnosed with Acanthamoeba keratitis.

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Reusable contact lenses triple risk of corneal eye infection, says study
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Researchers discovered that people who use reusable contact lenses are almost four times more likely to have a rare sight-threatening eye infection than those who use daily disposables. Multiple risk factors for Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) are identified in a case-control study performed by UCL and Moorfields researchers and published in Ophthalmology. These include reusing lenses and wearing them overnight or in the shower.

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To be more specific, microbial keratitis (corneal infection) causes inflammation of the cornea (the transparent, outermost layer of the eye). Professor John Dart, the paper's senior author and director of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "In recent years we have seen an increase of Acanthamoeba keratitis in the UK and Europe, and while the infection is still rare, it is preventable and warrants a public health response."

"Contact lenses are generally very safe but are associated with a small risk of microbial keratitis, most commonly caused by bacteria, and which is the only sight threatening complication of their use. Given that an estimated 300 million people across the globe wear contact lenses, it is important that people know how to minimise their risks for developing keratitis."

Patients in the global north with otherwise healthy eyes are more likely to develop microbial keratitis due to contact lens usage. Although Acanthamoeba is a relatively infrequent cause of microbial keratitis, it is also one of the most severe, accounting for almost half of the cases among contact lens wearers who have vision loss as a consequence of keratitis. Although AK is still uncommon, affecting less than 1 in 20,000 contact lens users annually in the UK, 90% of cases are linked to preventable hazards.

Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is an infection of the cornea caused by the cyst-forming bacterium Acanthamoeba. A quarter of all patients are afflicted so badly by the condition that they lose more than 25% of their vision or become blind despite extensive therapy. About one-quarter of all patients with this condition need a cornea transplant in order to be cured or have their eyesight restored.

Over two hundred individuals from Moorfields Eye Hospital were surveyed for the study; 83 of them had been diagnosed with AK. These persons were compared to 122 patients who had visited eyecare clinics for treatment of other ailments and served as a control group.

Reusable soft contact lens wearers (such as monthlies) were almost four times more likely to develop AK as those who used disposable lenses. The risk of developing AK was increased by 3.3 when lenses were worn during a shower, and by 3.9 when lenses were worn overnight. Reusing contact lenses raises the risk of infection, especially for those who use disposables every day. Reduced risk was seen in those who had recently had their contact lens prescriptions checked by a medical expert.

After doing more study, the team concluded that switching from reusable to daily disposable lenses might prevent 30-62% of instances in the UK and perhaps many other nations.

The frequency of AK is rising in the UK, according to a new research conducted by Professor Dart. He and his colleagues examined Moorfields Eye Hospital's incidence data from 1985 to 2016, and they discovered a rise from eight to ten yearly occurrences to between 36 and 65 annual cases.

(With inputs from ANI)

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