Asian student goes BLIND after working so hard she forgets to take out her contacts
Doctors say contact lens wearers are a high-risk group for eye diseases
A Taiwanese student went blind after she left in her disposable contact lenses for six months – because she was under pressure from her university studies.
A single cell amoeba bug thrived in the perfect conditions between the contact lens and her eye, leaving her blind.
Doctor Wu Jian-liang, said: “Contact lens wearers are a high-risk group that can easily be exposed to eye diseases.
“A shortage of oxygen can destroy the surface of the epithelial tissue, creating tiny wounds into which the bacteria can easily infect, spreading to the rest of the eye and providing a perfect breeding ground.
“The girl should have thrown the contact lenses away after a month but instead she overused them and has now permanently damaged her corneas.”
He said that she had been diagnosed with acanthamoeba keratitis, a rare condition more common in the summer.
Dr Jian-liang revealed the girl’s case to remind contact lens users about the importance of good hygiene.
Her experience adds weight to the claim that university should be a non-contact sport.