Contact lens-associated microbial keratitis
L. D. Ormerod and R. E. Smith
During a 14-year period, 42 cases of microbial keratitis were associated
with contact lens (CL) wear. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated in 40% of
the cases and Staphylococcus in 31%; Streptococcus pneumoniae,
alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus, and Serratia marcescens were the next most
commonly isolated pathogens. There was a single fungal corneal ulcer.
Bandage CL use was associated with a high prevalence of infection with
quasi-commensal organisms and with polymicrobial keratitis, a pattern of
disease quite distinct from that induced by other types of CLs. Marked
visual loss frequently occurred. There was a disturbing increase in the
number of infections associated with extended-wear CLs (worn for either
aphakia or myopia) over the last 18 months of the study.
