Ocular Bacterial Infections: A Ten-Year Survey and Review of Causative Organisms Based on the Oklahoma Experience

Abstract

Ocular infections can be medical emergencies that result in permanent visual impairment or blindness and loss of quality of life. Bacteria are a major cause of ocular infections. Effective treatment of ocular infections requires knowledge of which bacteria are the likely cause of the infection. This survey of ocular bacterial isolates and review of ocular pathogens is based on a survey of a collection of isolates banked over a ten-year span at the Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma. These findings illustrate the diversity of bacteria isolated from the eye, ranging from common species to rare and unique species. At all sampled sites, staphylococci were the predominant bacteria isolated. Pseudomonads were the most common Gram-negative bacterial isolate, except in vitreous, where Serratia was the most common Gram-negative bacterial isolate. Here, we discuss the range of ocular infections that these species have been documented to cause and treatment options for these infections. Although a highly diverse spectrum of species has been isolated from the eye, the majority of infections are caused by Gram-positive species, and in most infections, empiric treatments are effective.