photo credit: Anna S. Kitzmann, M.D.
It sounds like a classic urban myth, the sort of thing that would be shared wildly until counteracted by Snopes. However, Taiwanese undergraduate Lian Kao really has been blinded as a result of not changing her contact lenses.
The space between contact lenses and the eye is well suited to allowing microorganisms that don’t like oxygen to breed, and worse still, feed on the cornea. Acanthamoeba represents the main threat, and in Kao’s case six months of not removing her lenses gave it ample time to become established.
While lenses that haven’t been cleaned pose a risk, not taking them out at all is a far greater danger. Kao reportedly didn’t remove her lenses for six months, not only sleeping in them but swimming as well. Since swimming pools often contain Acanthamoeba this greatly heightened her risk.
Dr Wu Jian-Liang, director of opthalmology at Wan Fang Hospital said, “A shortage of oxygen can destroy the surface of the epithelial tissue, creating tiny wounds into which the bacteria can easily infect, spreading to the rest of the eye and providing a perfect breeding ground.”
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