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Rare conjunctivitis now hits city (of Chennai)

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  • Rare conjunctivitis now hits city (of Chennai)

    Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/3944344.cms

    Rare conjunctivitis now hits city
    7 Jan 2009, 0028 hrs IST, Pushpa Narayan, TNN

    In September, a city hospital reported seven cases of an extremely rare form of conjunctivitis (Madras eye) ? microsporidial keratoconjunctivitis
    ? from the suburbans. In the last two weeks, the hospital has begun to report at least ten cases within the city.

    The infection, caused by protozoan parasites that usually cause diseases in animals, can cause blindness in 20% of the patients, if untreated. First detected in 1973, microsporidial keratoconjuctivitis was seen in less than 100 patients globally. In Chennai, there have been more than 20 cases from areas including West Mambalam and T Nagar.


    Though a majority of eye hospitals admit that they have been getting at least four patients a week for conjunctivitis, they have not been seeing an increase in cases. While doctors at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital say they have not seen any cases in the last six months, a microbiologist at the Sankara Nethralaya said they had a couple of cases in the last two months.

    "When we reported seven cases in September, we knew it was significant, considering less than 100 such cases have been reported from across the world in medical literature, though more than 60% of it was from Orissa. We even suspected an outbreak. Now, we know it not rare here anymore. It is only underdiagnosed," said cornea and refractive surgery consultant Dr Anand Parathasarathy of Vasan Eye Care Hospital.


    When a woman walked into the hospital with redness and irritation of eye in September, doctors at the Vasan Eye Care treated her for the ordinary pink eye syndrome, conjunctivitis. "But when the redness did not go down even after a week and when the patient had loose bowel movement, we did a corneal smear (eye tissue is scraped out and observed under a microscope). We found a protozoa instead of a virus or bacteria that cause conjunctivitis. Tests of stool and urine samples reconfirmed the infection. There was inflammation of the conjunctiva (the outermost layer of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids) and ulcers in the eye. It was typical microsporidial keratoconjunctivitis," said Dr Anand. Since then, the hospital has been regularly screening people for the disease.

    Microsporadia, doctors say, could have spread as a result of water stagnation after the rains. ?The protozoa can survive in water for up to four months. Anyone drinking or bathing in contaminated water is likely to be infected. It can be easily mistaken for conjunctivitis, says Dr K Premraj of Vasan Eye Clinic. The hospital is now planning a study to pinpoint the source of the infection as part of its prevention strategy.

    "We have been able to detect it only because, we have started looking for it. Often people are given broad spectrum antibiotics for the disease. In mild forms or early days this may work. But in some cases it does not," he said.

    While conjunctivitis is treated with simple drugs such as artificial tears, antihistamines and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, this infection requires a different spectrum of anti-protozoa drugs, called propamidine.
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