Isolation and identification of bacterial isolates associated with spectacle lens surface

Abstract

People nowadays suffer from refractive disorder that declines the vision. The most common therapy to overcome this challenge is the use corrective spectacle lenses. The continuous use of spectacles and the difficulties on disinfecting the entire surface can cause bacterial contamination, those bacteria can cause various eye diseases. This study aims to isolate and identify the bacterial isolates associated with spectacle lens surface. The samples were then inoculated on nutrient and macConkey agar and incubated at 37oC for 24 hours. Then, the isolates were identified macroscopically and microscopically. 72 out of 100 samples indicated positive results with four (4) different identified bacterial species of Staphylococcus aureus (38.89%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (27.78%), Klebsiella pneumonia (22.22%), and Escherichia coli (11.11%). The result of this study revealed the presence of bacterial isolates on spectacle lens surface. All the identified bacterial species are pathogenic to the eye. This indicated that, spectacle lenses could serve as a reservoir of pathogenic bacterial specie.