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Abstract
Purpose: In light of the increased incidence of contact lens associated Acanthamoeba keratitis in recent years, this study analyzed longitudinal trends of its incidence among predominantly non-contact lens wearers in a high-volume referral center in South India.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of microbiology laboratory records at the Aravind Eye Hospital from 1988–2009 was performed. The Maximum Excess Events Test (MEET) was used to identify epidemics of Acanthamoeba keratitis.
Results: There were a total of 38,529 unique cases of infectious keratitis evaluated over this time period, of which 372 were culture-positive for Acanthamoeba. Only three cases (0.9%) of Acanthamoeba keratitis occurred among contact lens wearers. MEET identified unique Acanthamoeba keratitis epidemics in 1993 and 2002.
Conclusion: Discrete epidemics of Acanthamoeba keratitis occurred among a rural, non-contact lens wearing, population in South India in 1993 and 2002.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Financial Support: This study was supported in part by an unrestricted grant from That Man May See, Inc (San Francisco, CA), an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (New York, NY), and NIH-NEI 1U10EY018573.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.