• DOI:10.1001/ARCHOPHT.1992.01080130084030
• Corpus ID: 25112166

Microbial contamination of in-use ocular medications.

@article{Schein1992MicrobialCO,
  title={Microbial contamination of in-use ocular medications.},
  author={Oliver D. Schein and Patricia L Hibberd and Tomy Starck and A S Baker and Kenneth R. Kenyon},
  journal={Archives of ophthalmology},
  year={1992},
  volume={110 1},
  pages={
          82-5
        }
}

• O. Schein, P. Hibberd, +2 authors K. Kenyon
• Published 1992
• Medicine
• Archives of ophthalmology

Two hundred twenty in-use medications from 101 patients with nonmicrobial ocular surface disease were studied by culturing the bottle caps, a drop produced by simple inversion, and the interior contents removed sterilely. Conjunctival cultures were taken from these patients and 50 age-matched controls. Pathogenic organisms were harvested from conjunctivae significantly more frequently (P less than .01) from cases (34 of 101) than from controls (five of 50). Sixty-four medications (29%) had microorganisms cultured from at least one medication site. Gram-negative organisms were significantly more likely (P less than .00001) to be isolated from all medication sites than gram-positive organisms. Additionally, when isolated from medication sites, the gram-negative organisms were highly likely to be cultured from the conjunctiva as well. This was not true for pathogenic gram-positive organisms. We conclude that a cycle of contamination between in-use medications and conjunctivae may represent an important risk factor for microbial keratitis in patients with ocular surface disease.