Daily HealthBeat Tip

The contact lens solution

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Quick action is what you want to solve a health problem. That happened with a rare but serious eye infection, microbial keratitis, which had spread among users of Bausch & Lomb's contact lens solution ReNu with MoistureLoc.

Federal health officials tracked the problem and the company withdrew the product from the market, which took care of that.

Officials are continuing to investigate the cause. Unopened bottles, the factory and warehouse didn't seem affected. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ben Park:

"That is really the subject of more research � to figure out exactly what it is about the composition of the solution that allows fusarium fungus to grow." (eight seconds)

Park says user handling might have had a role, showing contact lens users should handle solutions hygienically. The study is in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August 28, 2006

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