EYE infections caused by wearing contact lenses can be very painful and even lead to blindness. But now it seems the active ingredient in aspirin can stop bacteria sticking to the lenses and might eventually be incorporated into lenses to help prevent infections.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common cause of severe eye infection in contact lens users, but it is very difficult to unstick from the lens, says Mahesh Bandara at the University of Sydney, Australia, who led the work.
He found that salicylic acid inhibits the production of certain molecules on the bacterium’s surface that enable it to…
