Fusarium Keratitis, Fungal Eye Infection - Outbreak in San Francisco
A cluster of 4 cases of soft contact lens–associated Fusarium keratitis seen at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), during a 5-week span in early 2006 and compare this cluster with the number of previous cases of culture-positive Fusarium keratitis seen at UCSF during the prior 30 years.
This cluster represents part of a larger outbreak of Fusarium keratitis currently under investigation by public health authorities in Singapore1 and the United States.2 As in these outbreaks under investigation, soft contact lens wear and use of ReNu with MoistureLoc or ReNu MultiPlus (Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY) contact lens solution was a common feature of these cases.
From February 23, 2006, to March 30, 2006, 4 cases of culture-proven Fusarium keratitis were seen at the Francis I. Proctor Foundation and the Cornea Service of the Department of Ophthalmology at UCSF. All patients used soft contact lenses on a daily-wear basis.
Three of the 4 cases occurred in young (ages 19, 21, and 24 years), otherwise healthy female soft contact lens wearers with no other risk factors for fungal keratitis. All 3 of these patients exclusively used ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution that had been purchased in various locations and at various times in the San Francisco Bay Area. The lot numbers and expiration dates were noted to be different for each of these 3 bottles.
The fourth case occurred in a 56-year-old female soft contact lens wearer undergoing CHOP chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin hydrochloride, vincristine sulfate, prednisone) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This patient generally used COMPLETE Moisture Plus No Rub contact lens solution (Advanced Medical Optics, Santa Ana, Calif), but on 1 occasion 2 weeks prior to initial examination, she had also used ReNu MultiPlus, which she kept with her travel supplies.
Filed under Contact Lens, Eye Treatment
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