Arshad Shaikh, M S Fahim, Syed Abdul Shakir.
Bottle Infection and Self-medication in Microbial Keratitis.
Pak J Ophthalmol Jan ;15(2):57-60.

A study of 131 patients admitted for microbial keratitis was conducted in the Ophthalmology Unit of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, from 1-7-1994 to 30-6-95. Eighty-two patients were male (62.6%) and 49 were female (37.4%). Most of the patients were In the 3rd to the 6th decades of life. Unskilled workers were the main victims. Trauma, lid abnormalities and contact lens wear were the leading predisposing causes. only a few patients consulted an ophthalmologist at the Initial stage. Some were getting treatment by general practitioners who treated them with steroid and antibiotic combination (57%); others were treated by chemists or were on self-medication (43%). Staphylococcus aureus and psudomonas were the main organisms. The Organisms were commonly sensitive to aminoglycosides and puinolone derivatives. 37.6% of patients had total loss of vision, while 38.8% had partial loss of vision in the affected eye and 23.6% recovered fully. It is recommended that steroids and self-medication should be avoided at all costs at the initial level. They make eyes prone to infections and refractory to treatment.

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