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Query: UMLS:C0022568 (keratitis)
 5,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is associated with a wide spectrum of systemic and ocular infectious diseases. Little information is known about herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) keratoconjunctivitis in association with AIDS. The authors present six cases of recurrent HSV keratitis occurring in AIDS patients. Features of the herpetic keratitis in these patients included unilateral dendritic or geographic epithelial keratopathy; predilection for peripheral versus central corneal involvement; one to three recurrences per patient over a mean observation period of 17 months, with a median dendrite-free interval of 7 months; and a moderately prolonged clinical course with a median healing time of 3 weeks using topical antiviral therapy. Only one of six cases had stromal infiltrative involvement. These cases raise the question of whether the immunologic abnormalities associated with AIDS may affect the clinical characteristics and course of HSV keratitis.
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PMID:Herpes simplex keratitis in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. 255 61

Corneal subepithelial infiltration resembling adenoviral keratitis developed in two patients with serologic evidence of systemic Epstein-Barr viral (EBV) infection and nondetectable antibody levels for adenovirus (ADV). These cases suggest that EBV is capable of mimicking more commonly recognized corneal infectious disease entities.
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PMID:Corneal subepithelial infiltrates associated with systemic Epstein-Barr viral infection. 282 91

Granulomatous amebic encephalitis due to Acanthamoeba spp. usually occurs in chronically ill and debilitated individuals. Some of these patients may have received immunosuppressive therapy. Another infection due to Acanthamoeba spp. has been corneal ulcerations which usually occur after minimal trauma to the corneal epithelium (1). In contrast, primary amebic meningoencephalitis due to Naegleria fowleri usually occurs in healthy, young individuals with a history of swimming in heated swimming pools, in manmade lakes or with recent contact with contaminated water and practising water-related sports. Subclinical infections due to free-living amebas are probably common in healthy individuals with the protozoa living as "normal flora" in the nose and throat. It is possible that in humans, antibodies and cell-mediated immunity protect the host in such ordinary circumstances against invasive infection. In debilitated and chronically ill individuals, depressed cellmediated immunity may allow these protozoa to proliferate, allowing a fulminant "opportunistic" infection to develop. In the case of acanthamoebic keratitis, it is important to keep in mind that the temperature and moist environment of the eye serve as a good medium for the growth and proliferation of the amebas and is not necessarily associated with immunosuppression but rather with trauma. This review confirms that opportunistic free-living amebic infections occur with increased frequency in patients treated with steroids, radiotherapy, chemotherapeutic drugs or with broad-spectrum antibiotics and suggest that the mechanism of such infection may be depressed cell-mediated immunity or some other alteration of the immune system, like acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Infection
PMID:Acanthamoeba, an opportunistic microorganism: a review. 286 47

The induction of interferon and the ability of interferon to induce the antiviral state were studied using rabbit corneal epithelial and stromal cells which were cultured for fewer than five passages. Interferon titers in the range of 7000 units/ml were induced in epithelial cell cultures and 76,000 units/ml in stromal cell cultures treated with UV-inactivated bluetongue virus. The interferon induced was stable to pH 2.0 treatment and heating to 56 degrees C for 16 hr. Infection of epithelial and stromal cell cultures with various strains of herpes simplex virus type 1 showed that all strains tested replicated to equivalent titers in the respective cell types, and that no detectable interferon was induced in stromal cells and only trace amounts in epithelial cells. Exogenously supplied rabbit interferon induced the antiviral state in cultures of both cell types restricting the replication of not only encephalomyocarditis virus but also herpes simplex virus. Sixty to ninety units of rabbit interferon reduced HSV-1 virus replication by 50%. Human interferons had less than 27% of the antiviral activity in rabbit cells than they had in a human cell line. The data indicate that exogenously supplied interferon may act to reduce the severity of herpetic keratitis by directly inducing the antiviral state in corneal epithelial and stromal cells. However, interferon endogenously produced by rabbit corneal cells in response to HSV-1 infection probably plays a minor role in the pathogenesis of ocular HSV-1 infections.
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PMID:Interferon production and sensitivity of rabbit corneal epithelial and stromal cells. 299 72

A review of 87 cases of microbial keratitis in South Australia was made to determine the factors which influence the outcome of the disease. The preceding pathology and the extent of ulceration at presentation were found to be significant, while the presence of hypopyon was less important. Infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was most likely to result in a poor outcome. Most patients had a history of traumatic injury, herpes simplex keratitis, or a corneal graft. The choice of gentamicin and a cephalosporin as appropriate initial therapy in Australia was supported. The results are discussed with reference to current research objectives.
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PMID:Host, microbial, and pharmacological factors affecting the outcome of suppurative keratitis. 310 72

To determine whether infection with Mycoplasma bovoculi increases ocular colonization of cattle eyes with Moraxella bovis and other bacteria, colonization of ocular gram-negative bacteria were measured in eyes of cattle infected with Mycoplasma bovoculi. Strains of Moraxella ovis were chosen because these are among the most commonly isolated species of gram-negative bacteria from cattle eyes. Five strains of M ovis were characterized biochemically and by pilus structure, permitting the recognition of 2 biotypes. All strains were tested in a mouse corneal pathogenicity model. One strain of each biotype was selected for testing in calves. All 5 strains were apathogenic for mice, and the 2 strains tested in cattle did not induce keratitis. Infection of calves with Mycoplasma bovoculi increased the amount and persistence of colonization with the strains of M ovis.
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PMID:Mycoplasma bovoculi infection increases ocular colonization by Moraxella ovis in calves. 372 20

In Fall 1981, an outbreak of acute infectious conjunctivitis with keratitis (EKC) occurred in patients who had visited a private ophthalmology clinic just prior to onset of illness. Among an estimated 2,200 patient visits to the office from August 10 to October 15, 1981 for problems unrelated to infectious conjunctivitis, 39 (1.8%) persons subsequently developed EKC. The median incubation period was 6.5 days (range, 1 to 14 days). A case-control study was done to identify risk factors associated with contracting EKC; patients with EKC were more likely than control patients to have been examined by one or the other of two of the four ophthalmologists at the clinic and to have undergone procedures such as tonometry or foreign body removal. Adenovirus was isolated from conjunctival swabs from four of five persons with conjunctivitis; three were type 8 and one was type 7. Recognition of the problem and improved handwashing practices were associated with terminating the outbreak. This outbreak illustrates the potential for transmission of adenovirus infection during the provision of eye care. Infection control practitioners should be familiar with measures for the prevention of such infections among ophthalmology patients.
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PMID:Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis: report of an outbreak in an ophthalmology practice and recommendations for prevention. 609 Mar 33

The effect of intravenous acyclovir (at a dosage of 30 mg/kg per day for five days) on uncomplicated herpes zoster was investigated in 51 patients in a double-blind study. Although existing herpes zoster lesions tended to heal more rapidly and new lesions ceased to appear somewhat earlier in the acyclovir group, these differences were not statistically significant. During treatment, patients on acyclovir had significantly lower pain scores than placebo-treated patients. At follow-up, however, there was no difference between the two groups. Complications of herpes zoster occurred only in the placebo groups (generalization in two and keratitis in two cases). With the possible exception of trigeminal zoster or severe pain, acyclovir seems to offer little benefit for immunocompetent patients with herpes zoster.
Infection
PMID:Limited value of acyclovir in the treatment of uncomplicated herpes zoster: a placebo-controlled study. 639 5

The gram-negative opportunistic bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is an important etiologic agent of a variety of infectious diseases affecting the eye and surrounding tissues. The number of clinical studies and studies with mouse, guinea pig, and rabbit models of Pseudomonas-induced ocular disease has increased markedly in recent years, and this research has led to our improved understanding of factors relating to the pathogenesis and management of the diseases. Factors that predispose to ocular infections with P. aeruginosa include (1) trauma to the cornea with, or implantation of, foreign bodies or substances contaminated with the bacteria; (2) the presence of preexisting ocular disease; (3) immunosuppressive chemotherapy; and (4) presumed immunoincompetency in premature infants. The results of studies with animal models support the idea that the severe corneal damage that occurs during pseudomonas keratitis is caused by the production of bacterial enzymes and toxins that injure or kill the cellular components and/or degrade the extracellular matrix of the cornea and by bacterial product-mediated release or activation of cornea-degrading enzymes from corneal cells and/or from polymorphonuclear leukocytes infiltrating the infected cornea.
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PMID:Pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ocular diseases. 641 16

The present paper reviews the health problems of rural agricultural workers in Malaysia. As is common with most developing countries, the agricultural sector forms the pillar of the national economy in Malaysia, the major products being rubber, palm oil, rice and timber. Most of the agricultural workers, who form the largest occupational group in the country, live in the rural areas under poor socioeconomic and environmental conditions. Their general health problems include large families, substandard housing, overcrowding, lack of piped water supply and sanitary excreta disposal, malnutrition and prevalent diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and parasitic infections. The specific occupational health problems include infectious diseases, agricultural accidents, pesticide poisonings, physical hazards, keratitis nummularis and snake-bites. The organization of agricultural health services in developing countries is also discussed.
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PMID:Health problems of agricultural workers in Malaysia. 661 77


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