A woman claims that a parasite infection spread through her cornea after she rinsed her contact lens case using tap water. It has caused her to go blind in one eye.
Kyra Smith, from Mexico became entirely blind in her left eye in March 2021 after contracting acanthamoeba keratitis, a sight-threatening infection of the cornea.
She had worn contact lenses for the past 6 years, recycling 30-days lenses by soaking them in contact solution and and putting them back in their case each night.
After 6 weeks of ‘back and forth’ with eye specialists, she was finally identified with the unusual condition. Doctors suspected that cleaning the case in tap water brought harmful germs to the lenses.
After months of misery caused by the parasite eating away her eye, she underwent a botched cornea transplant, before finding that the infection was still alive. It left her permanently blind in left eye.
She is now getting another round of treatment to kill the parasite before she hopes to get a second cornea transplant. She is still trying to get her eye sight back.
Having lost sight in one eye, she was unable to work or care for herself for five months. Kyra’s left eye was so sensitive to light and pressure that it’s spread to her right eye. Therefore, she had to block up all of the windows in her apartment and avoid the sun. Except when she had to go to the appointments.
Doctors prescribed her a wide range of drugs to treat the infection, including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, steroids, and eye drops.
The parasite was still alive
Kyra had a cornea transplant in April this year after doctors assumed they had eliminated the parasite. However, they soon discovered that parasite was still alive and had infected the replacement cornea. It has caused Kyra to go for a second round of medication.
She is still totally blind in her left eye, but once the infection clears up, she plans to get a second cornea transplant. Kyra has resolved to never again risk exposing her contact lenses to harmful germs by rinsing her case in tap water, and she advises others to do the same.
She said:
“I always recommend listening to your eye doctor and never neglecting your lenses – there’s so many more things than can happen and they can happen very fast,”
“So it’s important to understand the risks and realise that wearing contacts is a privilege and you have to care for your eyes.”
Source: Daily Mail