Tap water could cause eye infections

(NBC) - It's a rare, but dangerous, eye infection that can be caused by tap water.

It most frequently happens in contact lens wearers, but doctors are seeing more non-contact lens wearers with the infection.

As an operating room nurse, seeing clearly is very important to Anna Swieboda. She started wearing contact lenses while on the job, until they started to bother her.

"I was here at work, and I felt like something was in my eye," said Swieboda.

Dr. Ira Udell said when he first examined her, she could only see so much. However, in two days time, she was almost blind.

"I saw a foggy, white nothing," said Swieboda. "Pain feels like needles in your eye, so no matter what you do with the eyes, I feel pain."

A scan revealed she had acanthamoeba keatitis, a very rare eye infection that most frequently occurs in contact lens wearers.

"Once it gets into the eyes, you need a little scratch," said Udell. "The organism gets into the deeper part of the cornea and creates environment for an infection."

However, Udell and other researchers said they have witnessed a spike in cases. More than half of the people affected do not wear contact lenses.

"Therefore, all the rest of the cases had to get amoebic keratitis from another source," said Udell.

Udell and his colleagues said they believe tap water from the shower and faucet may be to blame. Acanthamoeba has been found in tap water, as well as lakes and pools. But when it gets into the eye, that's when it can cause a problem.

Symptoms of infection include redness, blurred vision, pain and light sensitivity.

The best way to prevent infection is to avoid swimming with your lenses in, avoid opening eyes in the shower and never rinse your lens case with tap water.

And according to Swieboda, know when to ask for help.

"If you feel that something is in your eye, that your eye's bothering you, just go to a doctor and get it checked," said Swieboda. "You might get it, and it takes two days and you'll be blind like me."

Because it is not required to report incidents of this disease, we really don't know how many cases there are nationwide. And that's why hospital ophthalmology departments are at ground zero for research.