Eye Infections: The Effects of Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa
“Anything you’re putting in your eye, if it’s contaminated, is going to have a high risk of infection just because your eyes are so vulnerable,” she said.
In May she was given artificial tears at a medical center in Florida. After using the drops for two months, she woke up August 1 with burning, itchiness, redness and tearing in her right eye.
According to the CDC’s current update, there have been at least 28 patients across 16 states that have been exposed to the antibiotic Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
In the most extreme cases, the infection can spread to other parts of the body, including the bloodstream. The CDC said that three people have died from infections. At least eight others have experienced vision loss and four have undergone enucleation — the surgical removal of the eyeball.
She spent three weeks in the hospital, where she got antibiotics and multiple surgeries. Her case was complicated by a serous choroidal detachment, an abnormal accumulation of fluid, which ultimately led to vision loss in the left eye.
The woman had a large ulcer on her left eye, which was discovered in the emergency room. She was admitted to the hospital for three weeks, requiring IV antibiotics, antibiotic eye drops and multiple surgical interventions.
Last summer, Martray bought artificial tears at a store in South Carolina, because he had dry eyes. She began to have pain, swelling and burning after she started using them.
Montz, 72, had used EzriCare tears for about a week in November when she started noticing blurry vision. She found a discharge on her pillow. She went to the emergency room, where doctors discovered a large ulcer on her left cornea, involving nearly the entire eye.
He was in danger of losing his vision at some point. “He now has what is called corneal blindness because he’s 20/400 and has a corneal scar, but with corneal transplantation, he might have a better prognosis.”
Thebacteria have a problem with drugs that are designed to treat it. This type of drug-resistant Pseudomonas had never been associated with an eye infection, Walters said.
There is a risk of needing a surgery such as a corneal transplant or other different types of surgeries to address scarring that could also significantly limit the vision after the infections have been cleared.
“If you have any eye symptoms, things like eye pain, eye redness, decreased vision, please see an ophthalmologist for evaluation,” she said. Bring contact lens cases, eye drops, and any other things that could possibly be causing this infection when you come.
Prescott says people should keep eye drops sterile. That means not sharing the bottle with another person, not touching the bottle with their hands, skin or eye, and not using expired products.
Infections are generally treated with antibiotics, but the bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to multiple drugs. The CDC doesn’t recommend testing if the patient has symptoms.
Multiple outbreaks of EzriCare Artificial Tears and Delsam Pharma, a new bacteria behind an eye infection outbreak, say three people in South Carolina
Renee Martray of South Carolina has severe and permanent corneal scarring resulting in vision loss. She says it’s like trying to peer through eyeglasses that have been dipped in oil.
The women said their problems began after they used EzriCare Artificial Tears, which is part of a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and US Food and Drug Administration investigation into a multistate outbreak of a rare strain of bacteria.
When it learned of the investigation on January 20, the company did not know any tests that proved a link between its product and the outbreak.
Delsam Pharma’s product has not been linked to infections, but the CDC and US Food and Drug Administration have advised patients to stop using eye drops from either company pending additional guidance.
The investigation began with three different outbreaks, but there was no apparent connection, said Maroya Walters, the lead investigator.
Four people who had an eye infections at an ophthalmology clinic in California have been tested and it has been discovered that there is a new kind of bacteria behind them.
There were similar cases reported across the country. In partnership with state and local health departments, from May 17 to January 19 of this year, theCDC identified 50 people with the bacterium in 11 states, 38 of which were linked to four health care facility outbreaks.
“The patients had very, very few overarching commonalities. There were different types of infections that they had. “We were really looking comprehensively at products that patients received but not finding a lot of commonalities.”
On August 4 she went to Bascom Palmer to get antibiotics. They tried stronger drugs but the problem persisted.
Doctors tried to perform a transplant on August 29 but the problem was too severe to save the eye. It was surgically removed September 1 and replaced with a plastic implant at the end of December.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/health/eye-infection-patients/index.html
What Happened to Me, or What Have I Don’t Have Learned in the Past? A Trivial Observation of Eye Infection
I wondered why this happened to me. I don’t know how this could have happened to me. I was searching for an answer: What happened to me? At what time? How? When? What did I do?” she told CNN in Spanish. The most terrible thing is not having an answer.
“I think without that, we never would have found this outbreak, and we need to really keep those programs strong, because I’m sure this is not the last time,” she said. We need to continue to maintain these activities so we can detect and find the source of future outbreak.
I felt anger and indignation because they could have been negligent, careless in making the product that would have cost someone’s life.
She says she’s had to learn how to walk again due to new issues with stability. She has trouble doing everyday tasks, for example going to the grocery store.
In a lawsuit she has filed against several companies, she says she got the information from her daughter’s news articles.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/health/eye-infection-patients/index.html
A woman in the hospital with a sealed eye can no longer enjoy baking and crafts: Comment on the lawsuits filed by EzriCare and Global Pharma
She said that she was shocked because she had always just trusted. If they are made for the eyes and sealed, then it is good. I never thought that something like that could happen. They were sealed from the elements. You just grab them, you put them in your eyes, you don’t even think twice about it. Especially when you’ve been wearing contacts since sixth grade.”
EzriCare and Global Pharma did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuits or the ongoing investigation. CNN initially reached out to EzriCare on March 17.
She can no longer enjoy things like baking or crafts because she is having frequent migraines and straining her eyes.