Outbreak of keratomycosis attributable to Fusarium solani in the French West Indies.

Purpose: We report an unusual increase in the number of cases of keratomycosis attributable to Fusarium solani in contact lens wearers.

Design: Observational case series.

Methods: Between November 2005 and May 2006, 14 corneal abscesses were reported at the University Hospital Center of Fort-de-France. Twelve patients were contact lens wearers, and 10 used Bausch & Lomb (Rochester, New York, USA) ReNu with MoistureLoc. Corneal scrapings were collected for microbiological analyses.

Results: In six months, five abscesses attributable to Fusarium solani in contact lens wearers, using Bausch & Lomb ReNu with MoistureLoc as contact lens solution, were reported.

Conclusions: This study reports an epidemic of keratomycosis attributable to Fusarium solani among contact lens wearers in the Caribbean, during the same timeframe as a similar epidemic in Asia and North America. We are unaware of previous report of this phenomenon and could find no reference to it in a computerized search utilizing MEDLINE.