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contact lens solution
5 26 2007
Government officials are warning people to throw away a
contact lens solution after an investigation linked it to a rare eye
infection.
The warning concerns AMO Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Solution,
used for cleaning and storing soft contact lenses, said a spokeswoman
for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The solution seems to be a factor cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis, a
painful eye infection that can lead to permanent vision loss or
blindness.
The
CDC and the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration are investigating 138 confirmed cases.
The solution is made by Advanced Medical Optics Inc., a publicly traded
company based in Santa Ana, Calif. The company issued a statement Friday
night saying it was "immediately and voluntarily recalling" the
solution.
"There is no evidence to suggest that today's voluntary recall is
related to a product contamination issue and this does not impact any of
AMO's other contact lens care products," the statement said.
The confirmed infections have been reported since January 2005, the
company said.
CDC officials said people should discard the solution, throw out their
current contact lenses and toss the lens storage case. All of them may
harbor the infecting amoeba, said Michael Beach, team leader in the
CDC's division of parasitic diseases.
An estimated 85 percent of U.S. cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis occur in
contact lens users, but it's extremely unusual — the estimated
prevalence is one to two cases per 1 million contact lens wearers.
Contact lens wearers who practice proper lens care and people who don't
wear contact lenses can still develop the infection.
It's hard to diagnose and treat — and some of the drugs used to fight
the infection are available only overseas or from compounding
pharmacies.
Doctors first suspected a problem in 2004, when a University of
Illinois-Chicago ophthalmologist, Dr. Elmer Too, noticed more than a
dozen cases of the infection. Normally, he might see only one or two in
a year, Too said.
UIC doctors saw 35 patients with the condition from May 2003 through
September 2006. About 55 percent used the Advanced Medical Optics
product exclusively, Too said.
UIC investigators think the infection is not originating in the
manufacturing process, but that the cleaning solution is not protecting
people from the infection, which they get in their eyes through
showering or swimming, Too said.
The amoeba that causes the infection is naturally present in soil and
water. Wearing contact lenses while swimming or in the hot tub appears
to increase the risk of infection.
The cases were reported to the Illinois state health department, which
notified the CDC. A CDC investigation in about 35 states led to Friday's
announcement.
The solution is not marketed to protect against the amoeba. But "it's
supposed to be free of any type of microorganisms. It's not supposed to
result in anyone getting an infection," said Julie Swiss, an FDA
spokeswoman.
The FDA will take information from the CDC investigation and try to
discern what about the solution — or how people were using it — could be
responsible for the infection cases, she added.
Health officials have interviewed 46 patients so far. Of those, 36 wore
contact lenses and used some form of solution, and 21 used the Advanced
Medical Optics solution within a month of onset of symptoms, Beach said.
It was a strong enough association to cause health officials to issue
Friday's warning, Beach said.
Dozens of cases of this rare condition can be significant, eye experts
said.
"It's a large number if it's happening to you. It's a large number if
there is a little pocket of it. It's not a large number if you consider
there are 35 million contact lens wearers in the United States," said
Dr. William Ehlers, a University of Connecticut Health Center
ophthalmologist.
The company said in its statement that consumers who believe they have
the recalled solution should call (888) 899-9183. It is contacting
retailers, customers and distributors on return and replacement
instructions, it said.
The investigation is the second into eye infections associated with
contact lens solution undertaken by the CDC and FDA in the past year. In
2006, a Bausch & Lomb multipurpose contact lens solution was linked to a
fungal eye infection called Fusarium.
This week, Advanced Medical Optics disclosed it was considering making a
bid to buy Bausch & Lomb, its eye-care products rival.
Many wonder if New Orleans is losing its reputation as a
major music destination in the United States after many big-name music
stars are skipping it for their summer tours.
Thousands packed into the New Orleans Arena Friday night for a concert
headlined by Lynyrd Skynyrd as the headliner for what fans said is the
first summer concert of the year.
So far this year, the arena has two other concerts planned -- one next
week and one at the end of June. No other concert is planned for the
summer, though, which has some music enthusiasts worried.
Many city officials are blaming the newly rebuilt Hard Rock Casino in
Biloxi for the lackluster schedule in New Orleans.
"I guess they're a little ahead of us in recovery, and those things help
them out," said one New Orleans Arena official.
The roster is full with rock acts like Kid Rock, Cheap Trick and Poison.
The acts are booked, and the Hard Rock Casino doesn't open its doors
until July 5, which is upsetting to music lovers like Elliott Weiner.
"To see Biloxi taking music away from New Orleans -- that's not right.
You don't want them competing against each other for acts that used to
come here to go to Biloxi," Weiner said. "We need to see big
entertainers come here and support our city."
Officials at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi said they are trying to book
more acts for late summer and the fall.
.U.S. and British forces battled Mehdi Army fighters in
Baghdad and the southern city of Basra after their leader, Shiite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr, made a rare public appearance and called on U.S. troops
to get out of
Iraq.
Five gunmen were killed in an air strike during a pre-dawn raid on
Saturday in the cleric's Sadr City stronghold in Baghdad to capture a
militant leader suspected of ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the
U.S. military said in a statement.
In the southern oil hub of Basra, the British military said "a number"
of militia fighters were killed in an air strike overnight after Mehdi
Army militia fighters attacked British troops with rocket-propelled
grenades, mortars and machineguns.
The attacks were believed to be in retaliation for the killing of the
top Mehdi Army commander in the city on Friday by British-backed Iraqi
special forces, British military spokesman Major David Gel said in a
statement.
A Reuters reporter saw eight caskets at a funeral for those killed in
Basra. A hospital official said 22 others had been wounded. Residents
said a helicopter had attacked a group of civilians protesting against
the death of the Mehdi Army leader.
The fighting came a day after Sadr appeared in public for the first time
in months and repeated his demand for a timetable for U.S. troop
withdrawal. U.S. officials say he has been in hiding in
Iran, but his aides say he never left Iraq.
Some analysts and U.S. military officials have speculated that Sadr had
come back to reassert his authority over his militia, which some say has
begun fragmenting.
On Friday, Sadr sought to portray himself as a nationalist leader,
offering to work with minority Sunnis, calling on his militiamen to stop
fighting Iraqi forces, and criticizing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's
government for failing to deliver security and basic services.
His return comes ahead of rare talks between the U.S. and Iranian
ambassadors to Iraq on Monday on how to stabilize the country. The
United States accuses Iran of fuelling sectarian violence with its
support for Shiite militias such as Sadr's Mehdi Army. Tehran denies the
charge.
"CALM BUT TENSE"
The U.S. military said the militant leader detained in the Sadr City
raid was "suspected of ... acting as a proxy for an Iranian
Revolutionary Guards Corps officer."
The military detained five Iranians in Iraq in February and accused them
of being members of the Revolutionary Guards Qods Force. Tehran says
they are diplomats and wants them released.
The five suspected gunmen were killed when an air strike hit a column of
nine vehicles that were positioning themselves to ambush U.S. and Iraqi
troops, the military said in a statement.
But residents and police said the cars had been queuing at a petrol
station. A Reuters reporter counted at least 11 burnt-out vehicles about
1 km from the station. Lengthy petrol queues are common in Iraq.
"A plane came and started bombing the cars queuing for petrol and the
hospital," said a guard at Habibiya maternity hospital, which was also
hit in the attack.
Police said two people were killed and five wounded.
"The individual detained ... is believed to be the suspected leader in a
secret cell terrorist network for facilitating the transport of weapons
and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq as well
as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training," the
U.S. military said.
In Basra, the British military described the situation as calm but tense
on Saturday after overnight fighting.
Gel said British forces had responded "robustly" to attacks on their
positions, using "a number of appropriate and proportional assets ...
including a low-flying aircraft."
British troops have stepped up operations against Shiite militias in
Basra recently as they prepare to hand it over to Iraqi security forces.
Britain is preparing to reduce its 7,000-strong force to about 5,500
within the next few weeks.
A U.S. navy show of force on Iran's doorstep is "greatly
alarming" for the region and the United States risked a bloody quagmire
if it invaded
Iran, a state-run Afghan newspaper said on Saturday.
A large flotilla of U.S. ships entered the Gulf on Wednesday in a
dramatic show of military muscle, adding to pressure on Iran to abandon
its nuclear ambitions, which the West says are an attempt to develop
atomic weapons.
Afghan officials say privately a U.S. attack on neighboring Iran would
further destabilize
Afghanistan where U.S. and
NATO troops are fighting a resurgent Taliban.
The English-language Kabul Times, which reflects the U.S.-backed
government's thinking, said Iran should drop its nuclear ambition and
not be so stubborn.
"This is ... greatly alarming news for the whole region lest American
invaded Iran and create a blood bath of its people and another quagmire
for itself," the newspaper said in an editorial.
The U.S. show of force comes less than two weeks after U.S. Vice
President
Dick Cheney, speaking aboard a warship during a tour of the Gulf, said
Washington would stand with others to prevent Iran gaining nuclear
weapons and "dominating the region."
The Kabul Times said Iran should not confront the United States.
"Diplomacy required that it should have abandoned its nuclear ambition
... It is not a good policy for a relatively small country to be
stubborn and militant against a super power," it said.
Iran says it nuclear ambitions are for energy purposes only and its
leaders have made clear they would not yield to pressure. Iran has also
said it would resist any threat and give a "powerful answer" to its
enemies.
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