Simple changes to contact lens use could prevent many cases of sight-threatening eye infection.
People who wear reusable contact lenses are nearly four times as likely as those wearing daily disposables to develop a rare sight-threatening eye infection, a study by UNSW Sydney, University College London (UCL) and Moorfields Eye Hospital researchers finds.
The case control study, published in Ophthalmology, identifies multiple factors that increase the risk of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), including reusing lenses or wearing them overnight or in the shower.
"Previous studies have linked AK to wearing contact lenses in hot tubs, swimming pools or lakes, and here we have added showers to that list, underlining that exposure to any water when wearing lenses should be avoided. Public pools and coastal authorities could help reduce this risk by advising against swimming in contact lenses," said first author Scientia Associate Professor Nicole Carnt at UNSW Medicine & Health, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Contact lenses are generally very safe but are associated with a small risk of microbial keratitis, which is the only sight-threatening complication of their use. Given that an estimated 300 million people across the globe wear contact lenses, it's important that people know how to minimise their risks for developing keratitis.
"Contact lenses act as a vector to transport and retain the microbes close to the eye allowing a greater opportunity for infection to occur, compared to not wearing contact lenses," Associate Professor Carnt said.
In the developed world
