Contact lens solution recalled over blindness fears

HEALTH authorities yesterday urged consumers to immediately stop using the contact lens solution Complete MoisturePlus Multipurpose Solution and to visit their Ophthalmologist.
The contact lens solution manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics has been officially withdrawn from the Cyprus market after it was found to cause damage, a statement said.
The company announced the recall of its Complete MoisturePlus product late on Friday after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it found more than 20 cases of users of the solution who had developed a serious eye infection known as Acanthamoeba Keratitis, or AK.

Acanthamoeba is a microscopic, water-borne, parasite that may invade the cornea. The infection occurs almost exclusively in contact lens wearers and the condition is usually accompanied by severe pain and redness. The condition can result in permanent visual impairment or blindness.

Although the cases involved have been abroad and not in Cyprus, the statement said consumers who think they may have been affected in Cyprus should inform the Health Ministry at Tel 22305379 or 22468429 or by email to [email protected]

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.