Conjunctivitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Conjunctivitis, including details on pink eye, symptoms, causes, treatment, medication.

Mass treatment of trachoma with azithromycin 1.5% eye drops in the Republic of Cameroon: feasibility, tolerance and effectiveness.

Huguet P, Bella L, Einterz EM, Goldschmidt P, Bensaid P

NMH/CPM/PBD, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. p.huguet@laboratoires-thea.fr

AIMS: An epidemiological study carried out in 2006 indicated a high prevalence of blinding trachoma in the Kolofata Health District, Far North Region, Republic of Cameroon. As a result, the national blindness control programme of Cameroon instituted a trachoma elimination programme using the SAFE strategy. METHODS: A campaign to treat the entire district population with azithromycin 1.5% eye drops was undertaken in February 2008. To measure the effectiveness of treatment on the prevalence of active trachoma, two epidemiological studies were conducted on a representative sample of children aged between 1 and 10 years. The first study was performed just prior to the treatment campaign and the second study was performed 1 year later. RESULTS: The prevalence of active forms of trachoma (trachomatous inflammation--follicular (TF) + TF/trachomatous inflammation--intense (TI)) dropped from 31.5 (95% CI 26.4 to 37.5)% before treatment to 6.3 (95% CI 4.1 to 9.6)% 1 year after treatment-a reduction of nearly 80%. There were no reports of serious or systemic side effects. Tolerance was excellent and no treatment was interrupted. CONCLUSION: Mass treatment with azithromycin 1.5% eye drops is feasible, well tolerated and effective.

Published 8 February 2010 in Br J Ophthalmol, 94(2): 157-60.
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Articles on Conjunctivitis published 19 January 2010:

Live conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissue analysis in rabbit under inflammatory stimuli using in vivo confocal microscopy.   Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 51(2): 1008-15.

PURPOSE: Conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissue (CALT) plays an important role in ocular surface immunity. No study until now has been able to show its in vivo aspects, and few have demonstrated its reactions after pathologic patterns. The authors investigated in rabbit eyes the cell reactions occurring in the organized CALT during conjunctival inflammation models. METHODS: Using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM), the authors analyzed, for the first time in vivo inflammatory cell infiltration ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Conjunctivitis published 5 January 2010:

Functional role of thymic stromal lymphopoietin in chronic allergic keratoconjunctivitis.   Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 51(1): 151-5.

PURPOSE: Previous reports have shown that thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays a role in atopic diseases. This study was undertaken to investigate the expression of TSLP in the giant papillae obtained from patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) or atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC), and its functional roles were analyzed. METHODS: TSLP mRNA expression was examined in resected conjunctival samples obtained from four patients with VKC/AKC and three control subjects by reverse ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

In vivo performance of melimine as an antimicrobial coating for contact lenses in models of CLARE and CLPU.   Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 51(1): 390-5.

PURPOSE: One strategy to minimize bacteria-associated adverse responses such as microbial keratitis, contact lens-induced acute red eye (CLARE), and contact lens induced peripheral ulcers (CLPUs) that occur with contact lens wear is the development of an antimicrobial or antiadhesive contact lens. Cationic peptides represent a novel approach for the development of antimicrobial lenses. METHODS: A novel cationic peptide, melimine, was covalently incorporated into silicone hydrogel lenses. ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Conjunctival in vivo confocal scanning laser microscopy in patients with Sjögren syndrome.   Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 51(1): 144-50.

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the conjunctival alterations in patients with Sjögren's (SSDE) and non-Sjögren's syndrome dry eye (NSSDE) using a new generation confocal microscope (HRTII/ RCM; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany), in a prospective controlled study. METHODS: Twenty-eight right eyes of 28 patients with SSDE (28 women; mean age, 58.2 +/- 14.3 years), 7 right eyes of patients with NSSDE (7 women; mean age, 66.1 +/- 14.4 years), and 14 right eyes of 14 age- and sex-matched ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Conjunctivitis published 26 November 2009:

Systemic overexpression of IFN-gamma and IL-5 exacerbates early phase reaction and conjunctival eosinophilia, respectively, in experimental allergic conjunctivitis.   Br J Ophthalmol, 93(12): 1680-5.

AIMS/BACKGROUND: To investigate how systemic overexpression of IL-4, IL-5 and IFN-gamma affects the severity of experimental conjunctivitis (EC) in mice. METHODS: The tibialis anterior muscle of naive BALB/c mice was electroporated with IL-4, IL-5, IFN-gamma or a control gene, and then the mice blood and conjunctivas were harvested to measure the eosinophil content in these tissues. To evaluate the effects of cytokine gene electroporation on the early-phase reaction (EPR), cytokine ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Conjunctivitis published 3 November 2009:

Complete local elimination of infectious trachoma from severely affected communities after six biannual mass azithromycin distributions.   Ophthalmology, 116(11): 2047-50.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether infectious trachoma can be completely eliminated from severely affected villages. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of 2 villages previously enrolled and monitored over 42 months as part of a larger, group-randomized clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 758 individuals residing in 2 villages with high baseline trachoma prevalence, of a total population of 768 (98.7%). METHODS: All members of the 2 villages were offered 6 biannual mass treatments with oral ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Conjunctivitis published 28 October 2009:

Integrating NTD mapping protocols: Can surveys for trachoma and urinary schistosomiasis be done simultaneously?   Am J Trop Med Hyg, 81(5): 793-8.

We determined whether the school-based "disease mapping" methodology used to assess urinary schistosomiasis (SCH) is useful for determining trachoma interventions and whether the district-based approach recommended for trachoma is useful for SCH control programs. We conducted two separate integrated surveys in eight districts of central Nigeria: school based and district based. A total of 17,189 children were examined for trachoma and 16,238 children were examined for hematuria from ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Conjunctivitis published 9 October 2009:

Critical role of IgE-dependent mast cell activation in a murine model of allergic conjunctivitis.   J Allergy Clin Immunol, 124(4): 827-33.e2.

BACKGROUND: Allergic conjunctivitis is characterized by allergen-specific IgE in the serum and infiltration of eosinophils into the conjunctiva. The role of IgE and mast cells in allergic conjunctivitis is largely unknown, however. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the importance of conjunctival mast cells in a murine model of IgE-mediated allergic conjunctivitis. METHODS: IgE-mediated allergic conjunctivitis was initiated in C57BL/6-Kit(+/+) wild-type mice, mast cell-deficient Kit(W-sh/W-sh) mice, ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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