Bacterial keratitis. Microbiological analysis as a principle for therapeutic recommendations.
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Date
1999Author
Fröhlich, SJ
Miño de Kaspar, H
Grasbon, T
Möhring, C
Klauss, V
Kampik, A
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
PURPOSE:
The study presented differentiates between the aetiological agents of bacterial keratitis in patients with and without a history of contact lens wear. Based on these results, recommendations are given for optimal antibiotic primary therapy.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
Swabs and corneal scrapings were taken from 218 patients referred to the University Eye Hospital in Munich with a diagnosis of bacterial keratitis from 1989 to 1997. Ninety-two of these patients had a history of contact lens wear; 126 had none. The germs were isolated and identified by staining and microscopy. Observing polymicrobial growth in 51 patients, a total of 275 germs was isolated.
RESULTS:
The most frequent pathogens were Staphylococcus epidermidis (44%), S. aureus (18%), Streptococcus spp. (10%), Propionibacterium acnes (7%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6%). Gram-negative germs were nearly exclusively isolated from contact lens wearers, gram-positive germs were predominant in non-contact lens wearers.
CONCLUSION:
Keratitis in patients with a history of contact lens wear is often caused by aggressive gram-negative germs. Those cases should immediately be treated with quinolones and erythromycin. In keratitis caused by gram-positive pathogens, a combination with aminoglycosides and erythromycin is sufficient.
URI
http://hinari-gw.who.int/whalecomwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/whalecom0/pubmed/10479898http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/35677
Citation
Ophthalmologe. 1999 Jul;96(7):459-64.Publisher
Department of Ophthalmology, College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10387]