She Wore The Same Pair of Lenses for Six Month!

The story of this Taiwanese student and her negligence about contact lenses should be a good warning for the 71 million people who wear lenses…

The Taiwanese student, 23-year-old Lian Kao, did not change her contact lenses for six months. Just enough time for an amoeba to literally devour her eyeball and leave her completely blind.
The story should be a good lesson for the 71 million people who wear contact lenses, warns Business Insider.

A specific parasite that caused problems is called Acanthamoeba. Although it is of microscopic size, it can cause severe infections of eye, skin and central nervous system. It can be found in water and soil around the world.
Because it is ubiquitous, it is not difficult to imagine how easily it can get to someone’s contact lenses or eye if the person ignores proper cleaning. That’s exactly what happened to this Tai student.
When the parasite comes into contact with lenses that are not cleaned, it starts to feed with the bacteria that are present there. Then things get dangerous. Acanthamoeba starts digging and nourish itself with parts of the cornea, which is, of course, very bad.

The condition is rare, but often enough to have a name – it’s called Acanthamoeba keratitis. A small space between the eye and contact lens is a fertile ground for bacteria, and all of this can end in blindness.
Although cases as intensive as this one are rare, Acanthamoeba keratitis can happen to anyone who wears contacts.
The risk is reduced by regular visits to the doctor, listening to instructions on the lens box, taking the lenses off while showering or swimming, washing hands before putting the lenses and their regular cleaning.

Taken from: www.dnevnik.hr