- Acanthamoeba Keratitis is a rare but serious eye infection that can lead to loss of sight.
- About 85% of cases occur in people who wear contact lenses.
- Researchers say people who wear reusable contact lenses have a higher risk of contracting the infection than those who wear disposable lenses.
- Experts say you can reduce your risk of infection by storing contact lenses properly when you’re not wearing them and making sure your hands are clean when you put them on.
People who wear reusable contact lenses are at higher risk of contracting a rare but serious eye infection than those who use daily disposable contact lenses, according to a new study published in the journal Ophthalmology find.
Experts say the report is a warning to contact lens wearers to practice good hygiene.
A study by a team of researchers from University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital reports that wearers of reusable contact lenses were almost four times more likely to contract
“Contact lenses cause microabrasions and disruption of the epithelium of the cornea, the frontal layer at the front of the eye,” Dr. Yuna Rapoport, ophthalmologist at Manhattan Eye in New York City, told Healthline. “It makes the cornea more susceptible to any opportunistic pathogens… Basically, contact lenses change and decrease the integrity of the corneal epithelium and Acantheomeba adheres more easily to an irregular cornea as well as to the surface of a contact lens, increasing the risk of keratitis in contact lens wearers.
The results of the study were based on a comparison between 83 Moorfields Eye Hospital patients with AK and a control group of 122 people with other eye conditions.
Overall, the risk of developing AK was 3.8 times higher among wearers of reusable contacts, the researchers said. They estimated that 30-62% of AK cases could be prevented by switching from reusable lenses to daily disposable lenses.
“If switching to daily disposables is economically feasible, it eliminates some of those risk factors,” Dr. Alexander Solomon, a surgical neuro-ophthalmologist and strabismus surgeon at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Washington, told Healthline. California.
Solomon also advised wearing goggles when possible to minimize the risk of contact infection.
“I found that when I stopped using my contact lenses regularly, switching to daily disposables became more affordable and was by far the safest option,” he said.
AK is a
Symptoms include pain and inflammation of the cornea. About one in four people with AK experience severe vision loss, defined as less than 25% of their vision retained after infection. A similar number require a corneal transplant to restore or improve their vision.
AK itself is rare, but about 85% of cases in the United States occur in people who wear contact lenses.
More than 90% of AK cases can be attributed to preventable causes, the study researchers noted.
For example, showering with contact lenses increases the chance of developing AK by 3.3 times, while wearing lenses at night increases the risk by 3.9 times.
“Previous studies have linked AK to contact lens wear in spas, swimming pools, or lakes, and here we’ve added showers to that list, emphasizing that exposure to water while wearing contact lenses should be avoided,” noted Dr Nicole Carnt, first author of the study and assistant professor at the University of New South Wales and affiliated with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital, in a press release.
Dr. Benjamin Bert, an ophthalmologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in California, told Healthline that contact lenses “act like a sponge” when in contact with fluids that could potentially contain the pathogen.
“Being glued to the contact lens and then placed against the cornea gives the acanthamoeba more time in contact with the surface of the eye to begin to allow penetration into the cornea,” he said. “Without a contact lens in place, you just flash the water and the acanthamoeba with it, greatly reducing the risk of getting an infection.
The use of daily disposable lenses, although safer than reusable contacts, is not without risk.
AK infections were found to be more common in wearers of disposable contacts who reused their lenses instead of throwing them away after daily use, for example.
“Improper lens storage, mishandling of lenses, and excessive lens wear decrease the oxygen the cornea receives and make infection of acanthamoeba even more possible,” Rapoport said.
“And absolutely don’t let them dry out and lick them to add moisture before putting them back in your eyes – it’s more common than you might think,” added Dr. James Dello Russo, optometrist and ophthalmologist at the New Jersey Eye Care Center.
“Basic contact lens hygiene can go a long way to preventing infection, such as washing and drying your hands thoroughly before putting your lenses in,” said Dr. John Dart, lead author of the study and consultant ophthalmologist at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London, in a press release.
“Anyone who wears contact lenses and experiences decreased vision, eye redness or eye pain should remove the lenses and consult their optometrist or ophthalmologist,” said Dr. Kathryn Colby , chair of the department of ophthalmology at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine. , told Healthline.
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