Link between contacts and eye infections

Soft contact lenses and eye infections

Eye infections are pretty common and a lot of people experience at least one of them during their life. There are a lot of people who wonder whether there is a connection between contact lenses and some eye infections. People need to know that there is such a connection. A rare fungal infection has been linked with people who wear soft contact lenses and people should know that the infection is pretty serious and can even cause permanent loss of sight. In other cases, people have experienced significant loss of sight and were in need of a corneal transplant.

The fungus that is the cause of this infection is known as Fusarium. Back in the year of 2006, there were 109 cases of Fusarium keratitis that were under the investigation by CDC and public health authorities in 17 states. The doctors told the public that the infection is quite serious and that people who used soft contact lenses need to be extra careful in order not the get the infection. The best way to prevent getting infected is to maintain proper hygiene and to follow the instructions for proper use, cleaning and storage given by the manufacturers. If a person sees any sign of the infection, he or she should have reported to the doctor immediately.

Preventive practices for contact lens wearers

Every time before handling contact lenses, people need to wash the hands with soap and water and dry them. A person must follow the instruction given to him or her by the doctor about wearing and replacing the lenses. The doctor will also provide the person with information on how he or she should clean and store the contact lenses. These guidelines are also provided by the solution manufacturer.

The case in which the contact lenses are placed needs to be kept clean. The doctors claim that the case should also be replaced every four months. A person can even use the same case for half a year but not longer than that. If a person experiences some of the commonly known symptoms like redness, itching, pain, tearing, sensitivity to light, discharge, blurred vision or swelling, he or she should immediately remove the lenses and seek medical advice.

No matter what type of lenses people use, it is important that they perform a “rub and rinse” lens cleaning method in order to properly clean the lenses. This way a person will minimize the number of possible germs and drastically reduce the risk of suffering from some infection.