Fusarium alerts

There has been some very alarming contact lens coverage in the past couple of weeks, with The Sun and the Daily Mail carrying a couple of sensational pieces about two particularly unfortunate wearers who have lost eyes as a result of Fusarium infections. As ever with such horror stories, there isn't much detail on optician involvement in the fitting and instruction of wearing the contact lenses, how long they were used for etc. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272029/Dailies-contact-lenses-Jacqui-Stone-left-eye-removed-contracting-aggressive-infection.html and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2272029/Dailies-contact-lenses-Jacqui-Stone-left-eye-removed-contracting-aggressive-infection.html and the two cases together http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4790290/Contact-lens-fungus-ate-my-eye-too.html If anything can be learned from these stories it is the need to get your contact lenses fitted by a CL practitioner, attend after-care appointments and follow advice on wear of the lenses eg take them out immediately if you feel pain in your eye, as well as proper care. There are also some questions over supply/manufacture, which will no doubt be covered if the cases are taken to court. Just reading these stories yesterday had me reaching for a new pair of lenses this morning and making sure I'd washed my hands properly before insertion. Using fresh solution, not showering in lenses and throwing them away at the end of their wear schedule are also vital. These cases really make for sorry reading and without doubt cause alarm among CL wearers as attested by the commentary on the Mumsnet site: http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/a1675043-Omg-the-Daily-Fail-contact-lens-story-I-now-feel-like-Im-playing-Russian-Roulette-with-my-eyes-reassure-me