Evaluation of contamination of used disposable contact lenses by Acanthamoeba.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the contamination of used disposable soft contact lenses with Acanthamoeba.


METHODS
We evaluated 51 consecutive disposable soft contact lens wearers in a prospective study. Before their check-up visits, patients were offered a free new contact lens in exchange for donating their old one. The used contact lenses (n = 102) were then removed and placed in culture medium for Acanthamoeba. We subsequently investigated patterns of wear and hygiene habits.


RESULTS
The mean age of this population was 32.6 +/- 11.0 years. The average time of disposable soft contact lens wear was 13.7 hours per day. The contact lenses were disinfected daily with commercial solutions. Twenty-five (49.0%) subjects did not clean their lens cases properly. Acanthamoeba was not isolated from any of the 102 lenses.


CONCLUSIONS
There were no cases of Acanthamoeba contamination in a small population of disposable soft contact lens wearers who regularly disinfected their lenses with standard commercially available contact lens solutions.
Department of Ophthalmology, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University Medical School, England, U.K.
S A
SA
Sadiq
A
A
Azuara-Blanco
D
D
Bennett
J H
JH
Lloyd
H S
HS
Dua
D000048:Acanthamoeba / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015823:Acanthamoeba Keratitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D018639:Contact Lens Solutions / Q000592:standards; D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic / Q000469:parasitology*; D004209:Disposable Equipment / Q000469:parasitology*; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
D018639:Contact Lens Solutions