Serious fungal infections of the eye on the rise

Investigators in Miami and San Francisco describe clusters of a serious eye infection called ulcerative keratitis, an ulceration of the cornea, among soft contact lens wearers caused by the fungus Fusarium, which until this year had been considered an unusual condition in the U.S. Reports of both clusters are published in the Archives of Ophthalmology.


An editorial note preceding the articles refers to the recent withdrawal by Bausch & Lomb of its ReNu MoistureLoc contact lens cleaner, because of an association with these infections. The note says those cases "appear to be part of a more global emergence of Fusarium as a vision-threatening organism in otherwise healthy patients."...more