Contact lens wearers at greater risk for Acanthamoeba keratitis than non-lens wearers

LAS VEGAS — In patients who are diagnosed with Acanthamoeba keratitis, 85% to 100% are contact lens wearers and 33% are orthokeratology patients, according to a speaker here. “The rates of risk are the same or very similar for hard and soft contact lens wearers. Orthokeratology patients are especially high risk... luckily, if you are a noncontact lens wearer, the risk is fairly low,” Elmer Y. Tu, MD, said at Cornea Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.