Contact lens solutions need testing with resistant strains

Research presented last week at the Society for General Microbiology Annual Conference in Liverpool showed that a bacterial strain associated with more severe infections had enhanced resistance to a common contact lens disinfectant solution.

A team from The University of Liverpool and The Royal Liverpool University NHS Trust tested different strains of the keratitis-causing bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa for their ability to survive in the solution. Nine clinical strains of P aeruginosa, taken from UK hospital patients, were compared with strain 9027, the standard strain used by solution manufacturers, The majority were killed within 10 minutes of being immersed in the solution, but P aeruginosa strain 39016, associated with a more severe keratitis, was able to survive for over four hours.