A Medical Device Daily

Doctors of optometry from the Contact Lens and Cornea Section of the American Optometric Association's (AOA; St. Louis) said Friday that they are reviewing new reports from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC; Atlanta) saying there are now 102 confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis, 12 “possible” cases and 81 cases under investigation. The infections have been found in 31 states.

The reports say that 32 of 58 people with fungal infections used ReNu with MoistureLoc solution from Bausch & Lomb (B&L; Rochester), while 15 more used B&L's ReNu MultiPlus and seven used other unspecified ReNu brands. Six other patients reported using solutions from Advanced Medical Optics (Santa Ana, California) and Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas). Some patients reported using more than one solution.

“There are a lot of confused contact lens wearers out there, and we are aggressively reaching out to them,” said Arthur Epstein, OD, chair of the Contact Lens and Cornea Section of the AOA and an expert on contact lens complications. “While we realize the importance of due diligence throughout this investigation process, we are hoping for a swift, definitive conclusion from federal health officials to ease patient concerns and minimize further risk.”

The organization emphasized the relatively small rate of infections, the slightly more than 200 cases compared to more than 30 million Americans wearing contact lenses without a problem.

The AOA said that its member optometrists continue to take an active role in reporting their cases of infections to the CDC and the FDA.