Highlights
- •Two thirds of people in the general population practice any sort of hand hygiene.
- •Up to 50% of contact lens wearers are not compliant with hand washing procedures.
- •Education strategies may help to improve compliance of hand washing procedures.
- •Poor hand hygiene is a risk factor of developing microbial keratitis and corneal inflammatory events in contact lens wearers.
Abstract
Lack of or inadequate hand washing is a risk factor in the development of contact
lens related microbial keratitis and corneal inflammatory events. In the public health
domain there is compelling evidence that proper hand washing with soap can save lives.
The purpose of this review is to draw attention to some of the public health literature
in support of hand washing and how education can influence patients’ hand hygiene
behavior. Contact lens wearers are also guilty of poor hand washing behavior but there
is scant evidence that education of hand washing procedures of lens wearers alters
patient non-compliance. It is well known that pathogenic microbial contamination of
contact lenses, lens cases, care solutions and anterior ocular components have been
found with contact lens wear. However while the originating source may be hands or
water, it is most likely both of these. Besides proper hand washing this paper will
include mitigating strategies for avoiding microbial contamination.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 07, 2018
Accepted:
October 26,
2018
Received in revised form:
October 24,
2018
Received:
July 3,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
