Contact lens solution linked to infection recalled
Updated Mon. May. 28 2007 4:49 PM ET

Canadian Press-Associated Press

TORONTO -- A contact lens solution linked to a rare eye infection is the subject of a voluntary recall in Canada, the company said Monday.

The product from AMO, or Advanced Medical Optics Inc., is called Complete All-in-One MoisturePlus solution and is sold across the country, an official said.

The California-based company has a Canadian arm in Markham, Ont., and is working with Health Canada, reaching out to retailers and asking them to pull the product from their shelves.

The company encouraged consumers who might have the product at home to discontinue use until further information is available.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has linked the contact lens solution to an infection called acanthamoeba keratitis caused by a waterborne organism. Officials are investigating 138 confirmed cases since January 2005.

"Contact lens wearers should consult with their eye doctor if they have any of the following symptoms: eye pain, eye redness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, sensation of something in the eye and excessive tearing,'' said a statement from the company.

The symptoms are not the same for everyone, and there is the possibility of vision loss in some patients, which could require a corneal transplant.

The statement from AMO Canada said there is no available data on Canadians who may have been affected.

But out of 46 patients interviewed by the CDC in the United States, 39 were soft contact lens wearers, and 21 reported they used the lens solution.

"The CDC estimates a risk (of infection) of at least seven times greater for those who used Complete All-in-One MoisturePlus solution versus those who did not,'' the company statement said.

Consumers who believe they have the recalled product can call 1-866-492-6019 for further information.

Advanced Medical Optics Inc., a publicly traded company in Santa Ana, Calif., issued its voluntary recall in the United States on Friday night.

The statement said there was no evidence to suggest that the recall "is related to a product contamination issue and this does not impact any of AMO's other contact lens care products.''

CDC officials said people should discard the solution, throw out their current contact lenses and toss the lens storage case. All of them may harbour the infecting amoeba, said Michael Beach, team leader in the CDC's division of parasitic diseases.

An estimated 85 per cent of U.S. cases of acanthamoeba keratitis occur in contact lens users, but it's extremely unusual -- the estimated prevalence is one to two cases per one million contact lens wearers. Contact lens wearers who practise proper lens care and people who don't wear contact lenses can still develop the infection.

It's hard to diagnose and treat -- and some of the drugs used to fight the infection are available only overseas or from compounding pharmacies.

Doctors first suspected a problem in 2004, when a University of Illinois-Chicago ophthalmologist, Dr. Elmer Tu, noticed more than a dozen cases of the infection. Normally, he might see only one or two in a year, Tu said.

UIC doctors saw 35 patients with the condition from May 2003 through September 2006. About 55 per cent used the Advanced Medical Optics product exclusively, Tu said.

UIC investigators say they think the infection is not originating in the manufacturing process, but that the cleaning solution is not protecting people from the infection, which they get in their eyes through showering or swimming, Tu said.

The amoeba that causes the infection is naturally present in soil and water. Wearing contact lenses while swimming or in the hot tub appears to increase the risk of infection.

The cases were reported to the Illinois state health department, which notified the CDC. A CDC investigation in about 35 states led to Friday's announcement.

The solution is not marketed to protect against the amoeba. But "it's supposed to be free of any type of microorganisms. It's not supposed to result in anyone getting an infection,'' said Julie Zawisza, a U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration spokeswoman.

The FDA will take information from the CDC investigation and try to discern what about the solution -- or how people were using it -- could be responsible for the infection cases, she added.

The investigation is the second into eye infections associated with contact lens solution undertaken by the CDC and FDA in the past year. In 2006, a Bausch & Lomb multipurpose contact lens solution was linked to a fungal eye infection called Fusarium.

Advanced Medical Optics recently disclosed it was considering making a bid to buy Bausch & Lomb, its eye-care products rival.

OMG, I think I'm a statistic!!!

Yeah I remembered you when I saw this. You think that's what caused it?

I use the product, I will know next week.

Aww goodluck Ben. Hope everything turn out okay.

Awww Ben I hope your eyes are alright!

Reading about Amoebas on your eye's kind of gave me the heebie jeebies!

Thank Snuggs

Yikes hope it all works out ben!

I hope it does too Ben