WASHING your face while wearing contact lenses could increase your chances of getting a potentially blinding eye infection. And the risk is greatest in the UK, according to a leading eye specialist.
The culprit in question is a free-living, water-borne amoeba called Acanthamoeba, which can cause severe ulcerations of the cornea – a condition called Acanthamoeba keratitis. The disease is rare but extremely painful and can lead to blindness. “It’s a ghastly disease,” says John Dart, an ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. “It’s very resistant to treatment and difficult to eradicate.”
Contact lens wearers are most susceptible. Only around…
