US officials warn about brand of contact lens solution, linking it to rare eye infection

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, California. 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.

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.

Doctors first suspected a problem in 2004, when a University of Illinois-Chicago ophthalmologist, Dr. Elmer Tu, noticed more than a dozen cases of the infection. Normally, he might see only one or two in a year, Tu 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, Tu 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 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.

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Associated Press writer Andrew Bridges contributed to this report from Washington.

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On the Net:

CDC information on Acanthamoeba:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/acanthamoeba/index.htm