Opthamologists warned contact-lens wearers yesterday that they risk possible blindness if they fail to follow proper lens-care procedures.
Pointing to a recent increase in the number of infections that lead to a dissolving cornea, Ray Tsai (蔡瑞芳), ophthalmology department chair at the Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (林口長庚醫院), urged contact-lens wearers to take certain precautions.
"All patients in such cases are contact-lens wearers who have been infected with either pseudomonas [bacteria] or acanthamoeba from wearing contaminated lenses," said Tsai, adding that in a severe case, a patient went blind within a day due to pseudomonas infection.
"Pseudomonas is virulent," Tsai said. "It can penetrate intact epithelium. The lesion can spread rapidly within 24 to 48 hours."
According to Tsai, pseudomonas corneal infection begins as a central ulcer and may spread to involve the entire cornea and lead to severe damage of the anterior of the eye chamber.
"Blindness may result due to a rapid destruction of intraocular structures," said Tsai, adding that the symptoms of pseudomonas infection usually include acute eye pain, tearing, photophobia, purulent discharge and reduced vision.
Another leading cause of cornea-infection is the acanthamoeba, Tsai said.
"Though acanthamoeba has similar symptoms to the pseudomonas [bacterium], it does not spread as quickly. It often takes several days or weeks before a patient notices the symptoms of acanthamoeba infection."
While the onset of pseudomonas infection is usually caused by the wearing of contact lenses overnight or poor disinfectant solution quality, Tsai said that acanthamoeba infection is usually caused by rinsing lenses in tap or well-water or wearing contact lenses in swimming pools with insufficient chlorine.
"We have patients came to us with acanthamoeba infection because they rinsed their contacts lenses with water from the creek while out camping," Tsai said.
The best way to prevent such infections is to follow the recommended lens-wear and lens-care procedures, Tsai said.
"Don't wear contact lenses more than eight hours a day, and do not deviate from routine care of contact lenses and their containers," he said.
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