Printed in Great Britain ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL EFFECTS OF SOFT CONTACT LENS DISINFECTION SOLUTIONS

Absia'act-- A/ms: To study the antibacterial and antifungal effects of soft contact lens disinfection solutions. Methods: Eight contact lens disinfection solutions containing hydrogen peroxide or biguanides or polyquad compounds were evaluated with respect to their ability to disinfect a saline solution experimentally contaminated with different bacteria and with a fungus. We used cultures in blood Agar, MueUer-Hinton agar and Saboureaud's agar to identify the bacterial and fungal growth following 14 h of exposure to the disinfection solutions. Results: Hydrogen peroxide, D YMED ~ and polyhexamide solutions prevented the growth of the four bacteria studied. The solution containing biguanide prevented the growth ofEscherichia coli and Staphyloccocus epidermidis. The solution with polyquad solution only prevented the growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis and none of the disinfection solutions prevented the growth of Candida albicans. The control solution, which was saline, did not prevent the growth of either bacteria or fungi. Conclusions: Disinfection solutions containing hydrogen peroxide, or DYMED ® or polyhexamide can disinfect hese four bacteria but none of them prevented the growth of Candida albicans. KEY WORDS: antibacterial nd antifungal effects, soft contact lens solutions, disinfection capacity, ocular infection