Woman goes blind after swimming with contact lenses and amoeba burrows into her eye
A woman from Texas swam with her contact lenses on, leading to amoebae burrowing into her eye and blinding her.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that Brooklyn McCasland, 23, visited friends in Alabama last August when she contracted acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).
According to Cleveland Clinic, AK is a rare eye infection one can get from an amoeba, a single-celled organism that thrives in bodies of water.
Symptoms include eye pain, a feeling of having something stuck in the eye but not really, watery eyes, light sensitivity, eye redness, cloudy corneas, and blurred vision.
Cleveland Clinic said contact lens wearers make up at least 90% of the cases. Factors include wearing contacts for too long, improperly storing or cleaning them, wearing them while swimming or showering, and using contaminated contact lens-related items like storage cases or solutions.
In a GoFundMe, McCasland noted that AK affects one in a million contact lens wearers, and would not have swam in her contact lens if she knew she would get the disease.
"You can get it from using tap water to clean and disinfect contact lenses, including the lens case or from swimming with contact lenses," she said. "In my case, I believe I got it swimming at the beach."
McCasland noted that AK mimics other common infections and at the time, she was put on steroids and other drops. She said her doctor was very accommodating and did her best.
"Unfortunately, none of the treatment worked because it wasn’t the common infection we thought it was," she said, adding her right eye eventually went fully blinded.
McCasland had to take off work for a month since the sun caused her pain.
She was misdiagnosed for a month and a half and had to consult with two different eye doctors from the cities of Tyler and Dallas.
When McCasland visited her Tyler doctor again, he didn't have results yet, causing her to feel discouraged. But upon leaving, she got a call from her Dallas doctor, and was told to "go back to grab a nurse" so they could go over with the results, which showed she has AK.
"I could possibly go permanently blind or lose my eye if not starting treatment immediately," she said.
She was given chlorhexidine, a disinfectant also found in pool cleaners, and brolene, an antibacterial eye drop.
Her drops are only made in the United Kingdom, and McCasland said she's lucky that the Dallas doctor had a couple of samples to begin her treatment as soon as possible.
She noted she had to apply the drops every 30 minutes from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Her doctor said she will "most likely" be using the drops for months even as she's also possibly in need of a cornea transplant.
"This could take months but I’m thankful that we know exactly what it is and I’m able to start the correct treatment," she said.