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Eye infections caused by parasites

There’s a new contact lens solution scare this week.  Last year it was fungus, this year it’s parasites.  Apparently there has been an increase in amoebic infections in the eyes of those who use a type of moisturizing contact lens solution.  These amoebas are pretty common (and relatively harmless?) in the water supply, but put them in your eyes with a few moisturizing drops and you’ve got yourself a dangerous infection that can even result in blindness.  Scientists are puzzled as to why this mixture might increase the risk for infection – some speculate that the moisturizing chemical sticks to the amoebas and keeps them in the eye (rather than having them drop out in your tears).  But at this point, no one really knows why there have been increased infection rates, or what the contact lens solution has to do with it.

I guess my advice would be – never put tap water in your eyes or on your contact lenses, and switch to a different brand of contact lens solution than Advanced Medical Optics, Inc.’s Complete Moisture Plus until further notice.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.


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