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Anil Kumar, Snehal Pandya, Ghanshyam Kavathia, Sejul Antala, Molly Madan, Tanuja Javdekar. Microbial keratitis in Gujarat, Western India: findings from 200 cases. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2011;10:48 Key words: Microbial, keratitis, village healer, eyes, epidemiology, India Permanent link: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/10/48/full Received: 10/03/2011 - Accepted: 14/11/2011 - Published: 29/11/2011 © Anil Kumar et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Microbial keratitis in Gujarat, Western India: findings from 200 cases
Anil Kumar1,&, Snehal Pandya2, Ghanshyam Kavathia3, Sejul Antala4, Molly Madan5, Tanuja Javdekar6
1Department of Microbiology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Ponekara, Kochi-682041, Kerala India, 2G.T.Seth Eye Hospital, Rajkot, Gujarat, India, 3P.D.U. Medical College, Civil Hospital Campus, Rajkot, Gujarat, India, 4Department of Microbiology, Subrati Medical College, Merrut, Uttar Pradesh, India, 5Department of Microbiology, Baroda Medical College, Baroda, Gujarat, India
&Corresponding author
Anil Kumar, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Ponekkara, Kochi, Kerala, India
The objective of this study was to study the epidemiological characteristics and the microbiological profile of patients suspected with microbial keratitis in Gujarat.
Corneal scraping was collected from 200 consecutive cases of suspected microbial keratitis and was subjected to direct examination and culture.
Of the 200 ulcers 55% were culture positive, 26.5% were bacterial ulcers of which 47% were due to Staphylococcus spp. Pure fungal growth was seen in 22% while 6% were mixed ulcers. Fusarium spp. (30%) was the most common fungus followed by Aspergillus spp. (21%). Only one case of Acanthamoeba keratitis was encountered. Patients were mainly from rural areas (61.5%) with male preponderance (61.5%). Corneal injury was seen in 78.5% cases of which 53% had injury with vegetative matter. Prior treatment was seen in 58% of which 5% had been treated by village healers. Nineteen patients (9.5%) also used some kind of traditional topical treatment. Increased incidence was seen from August to December. Five case of fugal ulcers lead to perforation of which three were due to Fusarium spp. whereas perforation was seen in only two cases of bacterial ulcers due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Staphylococcus and Fusarium spp. were the most common etiological agents in our region. Predominant outdoor agricultural activity is the principal causative factor for corneal injury. Corneal ulcers complicated due to treatment by village healers are another important concern. The information regarding regional etiology will help empirical management as many eye clinics do not have microbiological facilities.
