Contact Lens Health Week — August 22–26, 2016

August 22–26, 2016, marks the third annual Contact Lens Health Week. In collaboration with partners from clinical, public health, industry, and regulatory sectors, CDC is promoting healthy contact lens wear and care practices to reduce the risk for eye infections among the approximately 41 million persons in the United States who wear contact lenses. Research after outbreaks of rare but serious eye infections in the United States have indicated that these infections occur most often in contact lens wearers who do not take proper care of their contact lenses, indicating a need to promote safer wear and care (1,2).

A report in this issue of MMWR analyzed 1,075 contact lens–related eye infections reported to the Food and Drug Administration’s Medical Device Report database. Nearly 20% of the reports described a patient who had eye damage, and approximately 25% of the reports described potentially modifiable factors that might have put patients at risk for a contact lens–related corneal infection, such as sleeping in lenses or wearing lenses for longer periods than prescribed.

Although most contact lens wearers receive the benefits of vision correction, contact lenses can pose an infection risk, especially if they are not worn and cared for properly. Practicing proper contact lens hygiene and regularly visiting an eye care provider are important actions for keeping contact lens wearers’ eyes healthy. Additional information on Contact Lens Health Week and the proper wear and care of contact lenses is available at http://www.cdc.gov/contactlenses.

References

1. Verani JR, Lorick SA, Yoder JS, et al. National outbreak of Acanthamoeba keratitis associated with use of a contact lens solution, United States. Emerg Infect Dis 2009;15:1236–42. CrossRef PubMed
2. Chang DC, Grant GB, O’Donnell K, et al. Multistate outbreak of Fusarium keratitis associated with use of a contact lens solution. JAMA 2006;296:953–63. CrossRef PubMed