Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
권호 표지

The role of domestic tap water in Acanthamoeba contamination in contact lens storage cases in Korea

  • JEONG Hae Jin (Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine Pusan National University) ;
  • YU Hak Sun (Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine Pusan National University)
  • Published : 2005.06.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

A survey was carried out from August to December 2004 in Pusan, Korea to document the presence of free-living amoeba (FLA), including the genus Acanthamoeba, in both contact lens storage cases and domestic tap water. Acanthamoeba was isolated from $5(4.2\%)$ in 120 contact lens storage cases. Four house tap water samples from residents, whose contact lens storage cases had been contaminated by Acanthamoeba, were also found to be contaminated with Acanthamoeba. Therefore, the contamination rate of FLA and Acanthamoeba in domestic tap water was investigated in order to examine the role of domestic tap water in Acanthamoeba contamination of contact lens storage cases. FLA and Acanthamoeba were identified in $97(46.8\%)\;and\;16(7.7\%)$ of the 207 domestic tap water samples, respectively. There were no significant differences between the contamination rates of FLA in tap water according to the filtration plant of origin. No FLA was detected in the tap water directly supplied by the water purification plants. Water storage tanks appear to promote FLA colonization, including Acanthamoeba, in domestic tap water. This increases the risk of Acanthamoeba contamination in contact lens storage cases as well as increasing the risk of Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Keywords

References

  1. Armstrong M (2000) The pathogenesis of human Acanthamoeba infection. Infect Dis Rev 2: 65-73
  2. Jones DB, Visvesvara GS, Robinson NM (1975) Acanthamoeba polyphaga keratitis and Acenthamoeba uveitis associated with fatal meningoencephalitis. Trans Ophthalmol Soc UK 95: 221-232
  3. Kilvington S, Gray T, Dart J, Morlet N, Beeching JR, Frazer DG, Matheson M (2004) Acanthamoeba keratitis: The role of domestic tap water contamination in the United Kingdom. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 45: 165-169 https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.03-0559
  4. Kong HH, Shin JY, Yu HS, Kim J, Hahn TW, Hahn YH, Chung DI (2002) Mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and 18S small-subunit ribosomal DNA PCR-RFLP analyses of Acanth-amoeba isolated from contact lens storage cases of residents in southwestern Korea. J Clin Microbial 40: 1199-1206 https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.40.4.1199-1206.2002
  5. Larkin DF, Kilvington S, Easty DL (1990) Contamination of contact lens storage cases by Acanthamoeba and bacteria. Br J Ophthalmol 74: 133-135 https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.74.3.133
  6. Lee SM, Choi YJ, Ryu HW, Kong HH, Chung DI (1997) Species identification and molecular characterization of Acanthamoeba isolated from contact lens paraphernalia. Korean J Ophthalmol 11: 39-50 https://doi.org/10.3341/kjo.1997.11.1.39
  7. Lorenzo-Morales J, Ortega-Rivas A, Foronda P, Martinez E, Valladares B (2005) Isolation and identification of pathogenic Acanthamoeba strains in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain from water sources. Parasitol Res 95: 273-277 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1301-2
  8. Mergeryan H (1991) The prevalence of Acanthamoeba in the human environment. Rev Infect Dis 5: S390-391
  9. Nagington J, Watson PG, Playfair TJ, McGill J, Jones BR, Steele AD (1974) Amoebic infection of the eye. Lancet 2: 1537-1540
  10. Niederkorn JY, Alizadeh H, Leher H, McCulley JP (1999) The pathogenesis of Acanthamoeba keratitis. Microbes Infect 1: 437-443 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1286-4579(99)80047-1
  11. Rivera MA, Padhya TA (2002) Acanthamoeba: a rare primary cause of rhinosinusitis. Laryngoscope 112: 1201-1203 https://doi.org/10.1097/00005537-200207000-00011
  12. Seal D, Stapleton F, Dart J (1992) Possible environmental sources of Acanthamoeba spp in contact lens wearers. Br J Ophthalmol 76: 424-427 https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.76.7.424
  13. Seal DV, Hay J (1993) The microbiologist as a contact lens wearer. J Med Microbial 39: 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1099/00222615-39-1-1
  14. Seal DV, Hay J (1994) Acanthamoeba keratitis. BMJ 309: 1019
  15. Sell JJ, Rupp FW, Orrison WW Jr (1997) Granulomatous amebic encephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba. Neuroradiology 39: 434-436 https://doi.org/10.1007/s002340050440
  16. Stehr-Green JK, Bailey TM, Brandt FH, Carr JH, Bond WW, Visvesvara GS (1987) Acanthamoeba keratitis in soft contact lens wearers: a case-control study. JAMA 258: 57-60 https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.258.1.57
  17. Watanabe R, Ishibashi Y, Hommura S, Ishii K (1994) Acanthamoeba isolation from contact lens solution of contact lens wearers without keratitis. Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi 98: 477-480
  18. Yu HS, Choi KH, Kim HK, Kong HH, Chung DI (2001) Genetic analyses of Acanthamoeba isolates from contact lens storage cases of students in Seoul, Korea. Korean J Parasitol 39: 161-170 https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2001.39.2.161