It has been recently announced that ReNu with MoistureLoc, a conditioning fluid for contact lens users, may be linked to a serious fungal disease. If you or someone you know has developed a condition similar to the one mentioned below, please contact Finch McCranie for a FREE Consultation. Please read the following article for additional information:
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By ALISON YOUNG
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/11/06
A popular Bausch & Lomb contact lens solution may be linked to an increase in serious fungal eye infections across the country, investigators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.
The announcement prompted the company to temporarily suspend shipments of ReNu with MoistureLoc produced at its Greenville, S.C., plant, pending further investigation.
AT ISSUE
Fusarium keratitis is a rare but serious eye infection caused by a soil-dwelling fungus. Symptoms include a sudden onset of blurred vision, pain in the eye, unusual redness or excessive tearing or eye discharge. The infection can be treated with an anti-fungal medication. Left untreated, the infection can cause ulcers on the cornea and loss of sight.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
To reduce the risk of infection by the fusarium fungus — as well as far more common bacteria — experts said contact lens wearers should practice good hygiene. Users should thoroughly wash and dry hands before handling contacts, clean and disinfect lenses according to prescribed schedules, and replace lens solution every day, even if the lenses are not used daily. Storage cases should be replaced every three months. Disposable lenses should not be used beyond their recommended disposal period.
The CDC is investigating 109 patients in several states who have been treated for fusarium keratitis, a severe infection of the cornea that can lead to loss of vision. At least eight of the patients whose cases are under investigation required corneal transplants, the CDC said.
The infection is usually associated with an eye injury involving soil or plant material. But many of the cases under investigation involve soft contact lens wearers sharing a common thread: They used Bausch & Lomb ReNu brand contact lens solution or a generic brand manufactured by the company, CDC officials said.
"Right now we're trying to determine the exact risk associated with certain products," said Dr. Benjamin Park, CDC medical epidemiologist. He said investigators are examining, among other things, whether the infections are caused by contaminated products or whether there is something about certain lens solutions that allows for the growth of the fusarium fungus.
Ronald Zarrella, Bausch & Lomb chairman and chief executive, in a release, called the CDC's data "both troubling and perplexing" in its association with ReNu with MoistureLoc.
ReNu with MoistureLoc was introduced in the U.S. in late 2004 and entered general distribution last year with sales of $45 million, said company spokeswoman Meg Graham. The product uses a conditioning formula that helps keep moisture in contact lenses, she said. The company's tests show the solution is highly effective against fusarium fungus, she said.
Bausch & Lomb is suspending shipments from its South Carolina plant to make it easier for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to continue its 3-week-old investigation there, Graham said. The company is not recalling product from store shelves or from consumers' homes; and other types of ReNu solutions have not been implicated, she said.
Bausch & Lomb voluntarily suspended sales of ReNu multi-purpose solutions in Singapore and Hong Kong following multiple reports of fusarium infections in Asia beginning in February. Many of the cases in Asia have involved patients who were not properly caring for their contact lenses, including wearing expired lenses or reusing daily disposable contacts, Bausch & Lomb officials have said.
The 109 U.S. cases the CDC is investigating involve infections from June 2005 to March and are from California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.
Of 30 patients interviewed so far, 28 wore soft contacts and 26 of those reported using a Bausch & Lomb-manufactured product, CDC officials said in a report posted late Monday on the Internet.
Graham said at least 12 of those patients reported using ReNu with MoistureLoc, a disproportionate number given the product's market share.
The fusarium fungus is commonly found in warm climates and is associated with a variety of plant diseases, said David Geiser, director of the Fusarium Research Center at Penn State University. "Classically, keratitis is mostly associated with people who get soil in their eyes, quite often in an agricultural setting," he said.
The CDC received its first report of the eye infections on March 8 from a New Jersey opthalmologist who had seen three patients with contact-lens associated fusarium keratitis in the previous three months. By contacting other corneal disease specialty centers, the CDC learned others also had treated an increased number of cases.
If you or someone you know has experience any of the side effects mentioned above, please contact Finch McCranie for a FREE CONSULTATION.
