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Health Check: Acanthamoeba Keratitis

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Gentleman having an eye check at the National Eye Centre in Amritsar, India

2018/10/10 GMT

Acanthamoeba Keratitis

BBC World Service - Health Check, Acanthamoeba Keratitis

New data on the rare but serious eye infection caused by an amoeba

The rare but serious eye infection caused by an amoeba; A guide to headaches; Saving lives by using a simple breathing monitor during surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa

Experts at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London have collected data from patients affected by a devastating eye condition called Acanthamoeba Keratitis. It is caused by an amoeba and although rare, it can affect eyesight and even lead to blindness. It is a waterborne pathogen and their advice is that people who wear contact lenses should take them out before going swimming, having a shower or even washing their faces. Professor John Dart is senior author of the research, which has just been published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Headaches are for some a minor inconvenience and for others a debilitating pain that can stop them going about their daily life. They are very common and affect people of all ages, everywhere in the world. Health Check had an email from listener 16-year-old Izzy from Sydney in Australia, who gets a lot of headaches herself. She wanted to know what they are, what causes them and how they can be treated. The BBC’s Katy Takatsuki went to find out more. 

Could a simple breathing monitor used during surgery save the lives of thousands of patients in sub-Saharan Africa, who might otherwise die during anaesthetic accidents? The equipment is called a capnograph and although it is standard equipment in operating theatres in high income countries, hospitals in many low income countries do not have them. A new study, just published in the journal Anaesthesia, has piloted its use in Malawi to see what difference it could make. Ellen O’Sullivan, Professor of Anaesthesia at St. James’s Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, conducted the study.

Image: Gentleman having an eye check at the National Eye Centre in Amritsar, India
Credit: NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images

Producer: Helena Selby

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