Dr.Amrin

Dr. ARUN KUMAR SHARMA

Abstract

Blindness continues to be one of the major public health problems in developing nations. 1.5 – 8 million cases of preventable corneal blindness are attributable to infectious keratitis world wide. These contribute to spectrum of visual symptoms ranging from low vision to blindness as well as spectra of other ocular symptoms. Epidemiology and clinico-microbiological profile of the causative organisms is variable. With rise in antimicrobial resistance, no newer drugs are in pipeline, drug resistance among causative organisms of these infections is worrisome. Specimen collection, timely processing and reporting along with good integrations and communication with microbiologist plays a vital role, emphasizing the role of community ophthalmology in modern medicine. Thus this study was carried out to study the epidemiology of infectious keratitis, to determine the prevalence of various pathogens causing keratitis and to assess the in-vitro drug susceptibility patterns of the isolates.