This is a warning to the careless contact lens wearers. Scientists recently discovered a parasite that appears on the contact lens that is not cleaned properly. The parasite was originally located in the tap water or raw water, but it can eat away the eyes and cause blindness.
Acanthamoeba is the name of this parasite. Coming
from a family or a single-celled amoeba, Acanthamoeba can be found in
the river water, tap water, lakes, even in the shower and swimming pool.
Unfortunately only a few people are aware of its existence.
"This
is potentially a problem experienced by all contact lens wearers," said
Fiona Henriquez from the University of the West of Scotland as reported
by the Daily Mail, Friday (09/07/2012).
Millions
of people at risk of developing these eye glutton amoeba, especially
contact lens wearers do not clean the contact lenses properly or store
it in a dirty state. Acanthamoeba stick to contact lenses, corneal tissue feed on bacteria and then make a hole in the cornea of the eye.
When a dirty contact lens mounted, attached parasites will begin to eat away and proliferate in the outer layer of the eyeball. The symptoms are itchy and watery eyes, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, swelling of the upper eyelids and severe pain.
The number of people affected is still relatively small amoeba. However, the treatment takes a long, painful and not entirely effective. Patients who are infected often have to be hospitalized and require regular ophthalmic disinfectant. In more severe cases can be up to require a corneal transplant.
The
scientists also warned that in the most serious cases, the parasite
burrows made up so far into the eye it can not be cured and lead to
blindness.
"Generally,
this amoeba will leave scarring on the cornea. If the infection
penetrates deep into the third layer of the eye, then what remains is
scar tissue with corneas that have been perforated," said Graeme
Stevenson, opticians in the UK.
Stevenson said about 75 cases of acanthamoeba infections occur in the UK each year. The reason is mostly due to contact lens wearers do not follow the instructions given by the optical.
Rinsing
the contact lenses with tap water, swim or shower while wearing contact
lenses is an action that can increase the risk of eye this parasite. Maintain hygiene of contact lenses will be able to protect the wearer from attacks acanthamoeba contact lenses.
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