Doubts over contact lens fungus test

A new study in the US claims that contact lens solutions are being inadequately tested with an outdated and irrelevant fungus strain, as reported in Medical News Today.

The study from University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland claimed that the corneal infections in 2006 from the ReNu with MoistureLoc solution were fuelled and made resistant to treatment by the formation of biofilms. The strain of fungus (ATCC 36031) used for testing solution effectiveness - obtained in 1970 - does not produce biofilms, so that while solutions are effective in the laboratory, they fail when faced with strains in real-world situations. 'The multipurpose solutions cannot kill these germs, to put it simply,' said Dr Mahmoud Ghannoum, director of the Centre for Medical Mycology, who recommended that solutions be tested for biofilms produced by more recent clinical isolates.