In February 2006, there were clusters of a fungal eye infection in Asia, which prompted the suspension of sales of a contact lens solution in Hong Kong and Singpore..This infection, called Fusarium Keratitis has been spreading in the US since 2005. There is a correlation with the infection and the use of a generic contact lens solution, manufactured by Bausch & Lomb, called
ReNu with MoistureLoc. There has been an official world wide permanent recall of the product.
Advanced Fusarium Keratitis causes blindness by the scarring that occurs when the cornea is attacked. The scar tissues makes the cornea opaque.
Open your eyes to more below..
Here is a description of the disease:
Fungal keratitis due to Fusarium species was reported in clusters of patients in Asia in early 2006. Soon thereafter, new cases were reported to the CDC by an ophthalmologist in New Jersey. Subsequent epidemiologic investigation by the CDC has resulted in increasing reports from multiple states during the spring of 2006. The initial investigation suggests that the eye fungus is related to contact lens use, and possibly from exposure to ReNu® with MoistureLoc® contact lens solution (permanently removed from worldwide distribution on 5-15-2006) or its generic equivalent.
Fusarium keratitis is a serious, corneal stromal infection of the filamentous, non-pigmented Fusarium species. Infection with Fusarium solani, one of the more than 20 known species of Fusarium, is usually the most virulent Fusarium infection. If untreated, Fusarium keratitis can result in permanent corneal scarring and injury. The number of cases of fungal keratitis, including cases of Fusarium keratitis, has been rising during the past few decades.
Prior use of immunosuppressive agents, trauma, and recent ophthalmologic surgery are known risk factors for fungal keratitis. Contact lens use was an infrequent risk factor until the recent case reports. Prior to the 2006 reports most cases of Fusarium keratitis were seen in the southeast US or in warmer climates. In the northeast, most cases of fungal keratitis were due to Aspergillus species.
Symptoms of Fusarium keratitis include eye pain, foreign body sensation, redness, tearing, discharge, or light sensitivity.
Go to this link for more detailed information and images:
http://www.logicalimages.com/...
Latest case numbers
From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of May 12:
* 122 reported confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis
* 15 "possible" cases and 60 still under investigation
* Confirmed cases or cases under investigation reported in 33 states or territories (see list below).
What products were used in Fusarium keratitis cases (from the CDC, as of May 9):
* Complete data are available on 98 confirmed. Of those 98, 93 (95 percent) were listed as a contact lens user.
* The products reported used in those 93:
* o 59 (66 percent) - Bausch & Lomb ReNu with MoistureLoc
o 19 (21 percent) - Bausch & Lomb ReNu MultiPlus
o 9 (10 percent) - Bausch & Lomb ReNu (unspecified)
o 3 (3 percent) - any Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) product
o 4 (4 percent) - any Alcon product
Note: The numbers add up to more than 93 because some people may have used more than one product.
A spike in fungal infections last fall in Asia prompted Bausch & Lomb to suspend sales of ReNu products in February 2006 in Singapore and Hong Kong. The onset of Fusarium infections in the United States appears to stretch back to June 2005, according to the CDC. On April 10, the CDC first released information about 30 confirmed cases.
link to American Academy of Ophthalmology: http://aao.org/...
Here is the statement from the FDA released on May 15, 2006:
FDA Statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement May 15, 2006
Media Inquiries: Kristen Neese, 301-827-6242
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
Bausch & Lomb Global Recall of ReNu with MoistureLoc Contact Lens Cleaning Solution
On Thursday, May 11, 2006 a team from Bausch & Lomb met with Food & Drug Administration (FDA) officials to share information resulting from the company's internal investigation into cases of Fusarium keratitis associated with ReNu with MoistureLoc.
Bausch & Lomb has proposed that unique characteristics of the formulation of the ReNu with MoistureLoc product in certain unusual circumstances can increase the risk of Fusarium infection.
Based on this scientific and epidemiological data suggesting that ReNu with MoistureLoc may increase susceptibility to Fusarium , Bausch & Lomb has decided to permanently remove the ReNu with MoistureLoc product worldwide. FDA supports this decision. To date, data available do not indicate a problem with ReNu MultiPlus or ReNu Multi-Purpose or generic brands of this contact lens cleaning solution.
While FDA is still concluding its scientific evaluations and expects additional information to be submitted by the sponsor, at this time we recognize that Bausch & Lomb has proposed the formulation as the potential root cause of the increased relative risk of Fusarium keratitis associated with use of the ReNu with MoistureLoc product. FDA will continue to review cultures and epidemiological data and if there is new information that adds to or changes our current understanding, we will act on it in a timely and appropriate manner.
As part of the joint Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and FDA investigation, field officers have been inspecting the Bausch & Lomb plant and facilities in Greenville, SC since March 22, 2006. While the plant inspection is being finalized, there is still some additional testing to be completed. The agency plans to issue observations from the inspections imminently.
ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution, manufactured in the Greenville, SC plant, was voluntarily withdrawn from the market in the United States on April 13, 2006. To date, a majority of the confirmed Fusarium cases have been associated with the ReNu with MoistureLoc. Our interest in the MoistureLoc product has been based on the disproportionate number of cases of Fusarium keratitis associated with ReNu with Moisture Loc compared to the overall product market share. Based on CDC reports, the number of cases involving various contact lens solutions other than MoistureLoc has remained consistent throughout our investigation, and not disproportionate from the routine incidence of this infection in the population.
FDA Link:
http://www.fda.gov/...
Personally, I find it very interesting that this rise in a fusarium disease of the eye, has followed shortly after my own development of a serious allergy to fusarium molds.. I don't wear contacts and I don't use ReNu with Moisture-loc. The solution has not been shown to cause the disease. Rather, if the solution is not changed frequently enough or is left to evaporate in the lens storage case, this seems to provide an ideal medium in which fusarium spores may grow. It seems there maybe an increased number of these spores present in our environment.
See my article " A Question of Spores": excerpt:
In 2000, a firm, Ag/Bio Con (4) developed a strain of fusarium oxysporum mold they called EN-4, and that the military calls FOXY. David Sands, vice president of the company and primary producer, lobbied the members of Congress to use it against coca fields. Congress even attached a string to an aid package to Columbia saying that to receive the aid, the country must allow the use of these mycoherbicides. This proposal was rejected by the Columbian President, but strangely outbreaks of EN-4 mold infestations starting showing up in other South American countries, such as Peru.(5) By international law, the US may not export or introduce potentially harmful bio-agents into the biosphere of other countries. The supposedly spontaneous outbreaks of the EN-4 strain of Fusarium, allowed the stuff to be pushed as a mycoherbicide, because it was already there. The reasoning was to attack the growing of illicit drug crops. There were reports that the supposed natural outbreaks of EN-4 were preceded by US helicopters spraying an unknown agent in the areas. The use of this kind of mycoherbicide was squashed and made illegal by the countries in the Andes, that had been pressured to allow the spraying. Jeremy Bigwood describes the history in this article (6), and warned in July, 2005 that:
http://www.choicechanges.com/...
This information is crosslinked here:
http://www.choicechanges.com/...