Increase in STIs leads to more eye infections

An increasing number of patients are turning up at the State’s only dedicated eye and ear hospital with eye problems caused by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the Irish College of Ophthalmology annual conference will hear tomorrow.

According to Dr Susan Knowles, a consultant microbiologist at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin, a small but growing number of patients complaining of eye problems at the hospital are shocked to discover they are being caused by syphilis or gonorrhoea.

Syphilis can lead to blurred vision, pain in the eye, sensitivity to light and floaters in the patient’s vision. If left untreated, it can lead to more serious, long-term problems.

"If someone might have syphilis, it is important to get the test done to rule it out as the treatment for syphilis would be very different than for normal treatment of various eye conditions, she told The Irish Times.

Worrying trend
Gonorrhoea, in a small minority of patients, can cause swelling of the eye and weeping and pus-filled sores to form around the eye, which can be mistaken for standard conjunctivitis.

In the past, this was usually seen only in newborn babies with mothers who had undiagnosed gonorrhoea. Now it is being seen in young adults, most frequently males aged under 25, said Dr Knowles.

To help these patients, the gonorrhoea needs to be treated, typically, with an antibiotic injection compared with topical antibiotics for regular conjunctivitis.

There has been a well-publicised rise in gonorrhoea cases in the east of the country in the past couple of years.

Dr Knowles will give a presentation on the re-emergence of “old” diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhoea tomorrow during the conference, which is taking place in Limerick.