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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said health officials have now confirmed 122 cases of a rare fungal eye infection that may be related to use of a Bausch & Lomb contact lens solution.
Symptoms of fusarium keratitis, which can cause corneal scarring and blindness, include redness, blurry vision, discharge, swelling, tearing, pain and increased sensitivity to light.
Bausch and Lomb halted U.S. sales of its ReNu with MoistureLoc MultiPurpose Solution a month ago after the CDC said it was investigating an unusually high number of fusarium keratitis infections.
Since many of those with the infection used the Bosch & Lomb solution, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that people stop using the product immediately and throw away remaining supplies.
The CDC said in its update, however, that the origin of the outbreak is still under investigation.
"CDC is continuing its investigation into identifying whether there are specific
factors that may have placed people at risk for developing fungal keratitis,
including hygiene practices, overnight contact lens wear and specific solutions
used," a spokesperson said.
"The risk of getting fungal keratitis from contact lenses remains extremely low," the CDC added.
However, eye doctors are continuing to report a surge in phone calls from worried contact lens users.
“We’ve gotten a lot of calls from people” concerned about the fungal eye infection fusarium keratitis, said Roy Rubinfeld, a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Experts also emphasized that the outbreak should serve as a reminder to the 30 million contact lens users in the United States that good eye hygene is critical to safe use of contacts..
“I think this is a real wake-up call for both patients and the medical community,” said Arthur Epstein, chair of the American Optometric Association’s contact lens and cornea section.
Source: Medical Week staff, week of May 10, 2006
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