Contact lenses: mold destroys the eyes

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Soft contact lenses are particularly susceptible to being colonized by all kinds of germs - including mold. They can be dangerous to the eyesight as soon as they affect the cornea of the eye.

Reddened, burning eyes - this is how conjunctivitis expresses itself. Then it's time to go out with the contact strips. However, corneal inflammation is more problematic, especially if it is caused by a fungal infection. The eye is sometimes very painful and visual performance decreases. Above all, however, the long-term consequences can be dramatic: cornea transplants are very often necessary in the case of a fungal attack, in severe cases the last resort is to surgically remove the infected eye and replace it with a glass eye.

Medicines often fail

"In contrast to many other fungal infections, young, healthy patients are often affected here," says mushroom expert Professor Oliver Kurzai from the University of Würzburg. Treating such an infection in the eye is difficult because many of the fungi are already resistant to the available drugs.

For the first time, data on corneal infections caused by fungi are now available for Germany. A total of 22 cases were analyzed for the study, which were reported by ophthalmologists to the National Register for Fungal Keratitis (corneal infections caused by fungi), which was only set up in 2016.This is not enough for representative figures, but shows how serious the problem can be for those affected.

Corneal transplant or glass eye?

In their analyzes, the experts identified various molds of the genus Fusarium as the cause of the infections. Corneal transplants were necessary in nine patients, and the eye had to be surgically removed in three. In the remaining seven of the 22 patients, the symptoms were either bacterial or other, more harmless causes. "The most important risk factor is wearing soft contact lenses," warns Kurzai. Unlike hard contact lenses, which float on the liquid film in the eye and are much smaller in comparison, the soft lenses sit firmly on the eye and are not repeatedly washed around by the tear film. Most of the problems therefore arise with those who wear soft contact lenses.

Observe the hygiene rules!

Wearers of contact lenses should therefore strictly observe the following hygiene rules:

Wash hands before inserting and removing contact lenses.
Thoroughly clean contact lenses both before storing them in the cleaning bath and before using them.
Never use contact lenses for longer than the intended period of time.
Never reuse the storage solution or flushing liquid.
Let the storage container dry out during the day.
Do not place the container with the storage liquid in a sunny, warm place.