TITLE:
Polymicrobial Keratitis—Importance of Detecting and Treating More Than One Organism
AUTHORS:
Uma Sridhar, Parul Jain, Jyoti Batra, Neelam Sapra
KEYWORDS:
Polymicrobial Keratitis, Broad Spectrum Antibiotics, Microbiological Work-Up
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ophthalmology,
Vol.7 No.1,
February
23,
2017
ABSTRACT: Corneal ulcers may become non-healing if inappropriately managed. Empirically giving broad spectrum antibiotics or prescription of a “cocktail” of topical antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral medication may only add to drug toxicity and drug resistance. We present a series of four cases of microbial keratitis which are complicated due to presence of more than one causative organism. Microbiological work-up revealed Proteus species and fungal hyphae in smears only in the first case, atypical Mycobacteria and Staphyloccocus species in the second case, Moraxella and Streptococcus viridans in the third case and Aspergillus flavus and Nocardia species in the fourth case. Authors would like to emphasize the need for laboratory support in the treatment of corneal ulcers and importance of proper management of this sight threatening disease.