Adjustable Glasses

Via plime: The World Bank reports on the bright prospects of cheap, adjustable corrective eyeglasses with oil-filled lenses.

For too many of the world’s poorest people, life is just a blur. WHO estimates that roughly a billion people—mostly in developing countries—need eyeglasses to read, write, work, and go about their daily lives. But they cannot find them, let alone afford the high price tag. It can take as much as three months’ wages or more to afford glasses in many African countries.
At least 10 % of this group is made up of youngsters of school age.
These vision problems could eventually be corrected on a large scale through use of cheap, self-correcting spectacles, invented by Oxford University physicist Josh Silver, and being made by a British NGO for between $5–$10, with the ultimate target price being about $1 a pair.

Ocular Syphilis

Via ProMED-mail: The West Australian reports on a resurgence of ocular inflammation caused by untreated syphilis infections:

Homosexual men are most commonly affected, with infectious disease experts predicting the epidemic will spread through gay communities nationwide with time.
Dr Amaratunge says eye-related syphilis is relatively uncommon, with 15 cases expected in Victoria this year, but numbers are rising fast.
Fewer than 10 per cent of people who catch the disease develop symptoms in their eyes, causing redness, pain, light sensitivity and loss of vision.
But in those who do, 25 per cent will have no other symptoms of the syphilis and therefore often have no idea they have the debilitating condition.

Renu MoistureLoc Permanently Recalled

The American Academy of Ophthalmology reports on the permanent recall of Renu's MoistureLoc brand contact lens solution, following a study that found a positive correlation between MoistureLoc and Fusarium keratitis, a fungal infection of the cornea. No other Renu products or similar competing brands were implicated.

In a letter to the Academy, Bausch & Lomb specifically mentions alexidine, a disinfecting agent added to MoistureLoc. MultiPlus and Multi-Purpose do not include alexidine.
The letter states that alexidine is safe and effective, but under certain extreme conditions - such as the solution is allowed to evaporate, the solution is not regularly replaced in the lens case, when the bottle is kept open in between uses or when the case is not cleaned properly or changed regularly - "the concentration of polymers included in the formula to enhance comfort may make the solution more likely to be contaminated with Fusarium in the environment."

FDA Notice about Fungal Keratitis

The FDA Notifies You about the increased risk of eye infections with Fusarium associated with Renu MoistureLoc and possibly other Renu contact lens solutions:

Dear Healthcare Practitioner:
This is to inform you of a recent increase in the number of reports in the United States of a rare but serious fungal infection of the eye in soft contact lens wearers. The infection, a fungal keratitis caused by the Fusarium fungus, may cause vision loss requiring corneal transplants.
Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating this situation. At this time, Bausch and Lomb has agreed to stop shipping the ReNu MoistureLoc brand contact lens solution. This Notification will be updated as more information becomes available.

Thanks to JAD for alerting me to the related AP story.

Fusarium keratitis

Via ProMED-mail: an outbreak of the rare fungal eye infection fusarium keratitis has "spread" from Singapore to South Florida.

In a typical year, Bascom Palmer sees an average of 21 patients with fusarium infections, virtually all among people with eye trauma that lets the fungus penetrate the cornea, the eye's clear protective coating. Only a few patients infected since 2000 have been lens wearers, Alfonso said. But so far this year, the center already has seen 21 cases, 12 among lens wearers.