Contact Lenses Can Change the Ocular Microbiome

A study finds that wearing contact lenses may alter the composition of the bacterial community living on the surface of the eye.

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Scientists who study the microbiome continue to find evidence that everyday products can influence the bacteria and other microbes that populate the human body. An unpublished study reported at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology yesterday (May 31) has provided evidence that contact lenses can influence the microbiota of the eye.

“Our research clearly shows that putting a foreign object, such as a contact lens, on the eye is not a neutral act,” Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, a microbiologist at New York University Langone Medical Center who worked on the study, said in a statement.

A survey of the microbiota living on and around the eyes of 20 volunteers showed differences in the microbial populations between those who wear contacts and those who ...

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