Prevalence of infectious keratitis in Central China

Abstract

BackgroundThe baseline data pertaining to the national epidemiological survey of infectious keratitis remain scarce in China, and currently there is no corneal blindness control strategy developed by the nation.MethodsGeographically defined cluster sampling was used to randomly select a cross-section of residents from representative urban and rural populations in Hubei Province. Participants were selected from village registers, followed by door-to-door household visits. The assessment items included a structured interview, visual acuity testing, external eye examination, and anterior segment examination using slit lamp. Causes and sequelae of corneal disease were identified according to uniform customized protocol.ResultsThe prevalence of presenting corneal diseases was 0.8% (211/26 305), while the prevalence of infectious keratitis was 0.148% (39/26 305). The prevalences of viral, bacterial, and fungal keratitis were 0.065, 0.068, and 0.015%, respectively. There were no significant differences found between the prevalences of viral (accounting for 43.6%) and bacterial (accounting for 46.2%) corneal ulcers. cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis were not found. Infectious keratitis was the leading cause of corneal blindness (85.7%), and the prevalence of blindness in at least one eye resulting from infected corneas was 0.091% (95% CI: 0.067-0.127%).ConclusionsViral and bacterial mechanisms constitute the most important risk factors for infectious corneal ulcers in Central China. To reduce the rate and severity of infectious keratitis, he public health care policy should be focused on designing cost-effective strategies and operational programs for the prevention and prompt treatment of infectious corneal ulcers.

A Rabbit Model of Acanthamoeba Keratitis That Better Reflects the Natural Human Infection

“…Epidemiological data has shown frequent cases of AK in several countries. The risk factors for AK and potential means of disease prevention have also been investigated (Kilvington et al, 2004;Joslin et al, 2006;Gatti et al, 2010;Patel et al, 2010;Cao et al, 2014;Bradbury et al, 2014). The known risk factors of AK are corneal injury, eye surgery (Shmuel et al, 2013;Arance-Gil et al, 2014), and contact lens use (Steiber et al, 2013;Stapleton et al, 2012).…”

Fungal Keratitis – Study at a Tertiary Eye Care Hospital in Hyderabad

“…This pattern of gender variability maybe attributed to the increased outdoor activity of men especially in the working age group and also as per the prevailing sociocultural structure, predominantly males go for the outdoor work and the same applies for the farming. In contrast, in the study done in China, women were more affected and most of them were over the age of 60 (Cao et al, 2014). This could be due to higher employability of women particularly in the agricultural sector in China.…”

“…The potassium hydroxide (KOH) wet mount and its modifications are widely used for the rapid detection of fungal hyphae in necrotic tissue samples from patients with infectious keratitis (Cao et al, 2014).…”

Isolation, Identification of Fungal Agent Causing Keratitis, Antifungal Sensitivity Testing

“…1] men especially in the agricultural workers, labourers and domestic workers and most of the cases were residents from rural area 54.67% and 45.33% were from urban area. In contrast, in the study done in China, women were more affected and most of them were over the age of 60 (16). This could be due to higher employability of women particularly in the agricultural sector in China.…”