Effect of frequent-replacement contact lenses on normal conjunctival flora.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of frequent-replacement contact lenses (FRCL) on the normal conjunctival flora.


METHODS
This study included 30 patients using FRCL for refractive errors only and 32 age-matched, healthy controls. All patients replaced their lenses every 3 to 4 weeks. The samples were taken from the lower fornix with a culture swab and incubated in blood agar.


RESULTS
Staphylococcus epidermidis was the predominant organism found in the conjunctival samples in the two groups. In the FRCL group, 9 (30%) S. epidermidis, 3 (10%) Acinetobacter Iwoffii, and 2 (6.7%) Moraxella spp. were isolated from the conjunctival samples. In the control group, 7 (23.3%) S. epidermidis and 2 (6.7%) A. lwoffii were isolated from the conjunctival samples. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups (P > .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that the normal conjunctival flora was not changed by the FRCL, but there was a nonsignificant increase in the bacterial population.
Erdoğan
Haydar
H
Department of Ophthalmology, Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine, Sivas, Turkey.
Kemal
Mustafa
M
Toker
M Ilker
MI
Topalkara
Ayşen
A
Bakici
Zahir
Z
D000150:Acinetobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000328:Adult; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000382:microbiology*; D003261:Contact Lenses; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009016:Moraxella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000302:isolation & purification