Contact Lenses Harboring Bacteria Prior to Eye Application? Bug Transfer Leads to Infection

People who wear contact lenses on a daily basis may be more prone to eye infections than those who don't because lenses can transfer bacteria to the eyes, a new research has found.

The findings, which were presented at the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting, showed that contact lenses can transfer bacteria from the skin and appear to disrupt the balance of bacterial community living on the eye's surface, reports Discovery.

In the study, researchers analyzed the samples of nine users of contact lenses and compared them with samples from 11 non-wearers.

"Our research clearly shows that putting a foreign object, such as a contact lens, on the eye is not a neutral act," said research leader Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, from the Langone Medical Center of New York University.

"These findings should help scientists to better understand the long-standing problem of why contact lens wearers are more prone to eye infections than non-lens wearers," Dominguez-Bello added, according to the Independent.

There were more than 5,000 identified bacterial strains on the surface of the eyes in both contact lens wearers and non-wearers, Tech Times has learned.

The surface of the eyes of contact lens wearers have a set of microorganisms that are similar to the strains found on their eyelid skin. A higher number of Staphylococcus bacteria was also noted. This makes them more prone to eye infections. However, scientists still cannot explain why this is so.

Lead researcher Hakdong Shin said in an interview: "Since the tears contain antibacterial compounds, we were expecting low diversity [in the eye]."

"That the eye bacterial diversity is higher than that on the eye bag's skin was surprising," Shin said of the difference in the strains of bacteria present on the surface from those living underneath the skin of the eyes.

Meanwhile, Dominguez-Bello is optimistic of the findings and she has also expressed her desire for answers from future studies.

"What we hope our future experiments will show is whether these changes in the eye microbiome of lens wearers are due to fingers touching the eye, or from the lens's direct pressure affecting and altering the immune system in the eye and what bacteria are suppressed or are allowed to thrive," Dominguez-Bello said, as per Eureka Alert.

Since the introduction of soft contact lenses in the 1970s, the prevalence of corneal ulcers has increased, according to Professor Jack Dodick of NYU Langone who was involved in the study.

"A common pathogen implicated has been Pseudomonas. This study suggests that because the offending organisms seem to emanate from the skin, greater attention should be directed to eyelid and hand hygiene to decrease the incidence of this serious occurrence," he said, according to Daily Mail.