Contact lens wear problems: implications of penicillin allergy, diabetic relatives, and use of birth control pills

A study was carried out on a random sample of contact lens patients seen in private practice. Some of these patients experienced contact lens wear problems including keratitis, hyperemia, and discomfort. The results indicate that: (1) Fifty percent of those who experienced problems with the wear of hard contact lenses had diabetic relatives. (2) It is likely that the wear of either hard or soft contact lenses is adversely affected by the use of birth control pills. (3) Forty-five percent of those patients who were allergic to penicillin experienced problems with soft contact lens care regimens containing thimerosal. Some implications of an immunological cross-reactivity between thimerosal-haptenated proteins and penicillin-haptenated proteins are discussed.