reenw

Hello It's been a busy few days, otherwise I would have responded to your post sooner. I am afraid there is NO warning about water on contact lens packaging. There isn't a leaflet in the box. That's why I'm trying to do something about it. If you ignore advice, that's one thing. But if it's not given to you, that's a whole different issue.

This is a bit of misinformation that is currently still on the packaging for gas permeable lenses- not the same as soft lenses. I personally know a number of hard lens wearers who contracted AK after following these instructions to rinse their lenses in tap water. I am campaigning to get this advice changed as soon as possible. Would love some support.

Hello, I'm the person in this piece. I can confirm I was definitely only wearing dailies for single day then throwing them away. I didn't swim in them but I am not sure about showering. Just to be really clear- acanthamoeba is not a bacterium, it is a single celled organism - a type of amoeba. The infection can take hold in just a few hours, after a single exposure to water. I am happy to answer any other questions you have on this.

Hello, I'm the person in this piece. Just to be clear, tap water is not safe- it contains many micro-organisms including acanthamoeba which can infect the eye via contact lenses. It is wrong to suggest tap water or saliva are safe. Contact lens solutions are not 100% effective at disinfecting lenses. These risks are real, and it's important to be aware of them so you can wear lenses safely. There's good, clear information here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14691169

Hello there, I'm the person in the piece, I hope you don't mind if I respond to your comment above- I wore dailies as per instructions, only single use and then I threw them away. I had worn lenses every day in the run up to the infection. I hadn't gone swimming in lenses in the previous months but I had occasionally showered in them. We don't know what caused my AK, but many patients have reported swimming or showering in lenses before getting the infection and there is a strong correlation. Epidemiological studies have proven the link between swimming in lenses and AK. Studies have also isolated the same exact genetic strain of acanthamoeba from patients' bathroom sinks and shower taps as the one found in their eyes. Showering is a risk factor for AK. If you want to know more please do go ahead and ask anything else.

Hello pietistic, I'm the person in the piece, I hope you don't mind my responding to you directly. I'm sorry you had AK, and I hope you're doing better now. Just to be clear, swimming in contact lenses is an incontrovertible risk factor for AK- several studies have proved this. Moorfields Eye Hospital are also concluding a case control study which will also identify showering in contact lenses is a risk factor. Here's professor John Dart from Moorfields Eye Hospital talking about these risk factors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neUYomeUkYM. Any questions let me know. thanks!