A popular contact lens solution was being tested last night after reports from Singapore that it might cause an eye inflammation.
Of 19 Singaporeans affected by keratitis, an inflammation of the cornea, since May last year, 18 used Bausch & Lomb's ReNu multi-purpose contact lens solution, the Centre for Health Protection said yesterday.
The centre said two or three cases a month of fungal keratitis had been reported in Hong Kong in the past six months, which is the usual rate. But due to the situation in Singapore it advised people to clean and disinfect their contact lenses. Letters have also been sent to doctors advising them to be on the lookout for such eye infections.
'More Bausch & Lomb solutions will be tested,' a spokesman for the centre said.
'Fungus is present in the environment,' said centre consultant Thomas Tsang Ho-fai. 'During cleaning, the fungus might get into the contact lens solution, and if you do not wash your contact lens for a sufficient period of time, the fungus might get into your eyes.'
Bausch & Lomb Hong Kong said it would not recall the products.
