Page 18 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition March-April 2021

NEW MYOPIA TEST
IN THE OFFING
Researchers funded
by Fight for Sight in
partnership with the Welsh
Government, through
Health and Care Research
Wales, are in the process of
developing a genetic test
to identify people with high
myopia who are at risk of
permanent damage to their
eyesight and could perhaps
benefit through frequent
monitoring. The test may
also help to identify children
who are more prone to
developing severe short-
sightedness.
The team of researchers
at Cardiff University, led
by Professor Jeremy
Guggenheim, will utilise
existing information from
the ‘UK Biobank’ – a study
investigating the role of
genetics and lifestyle in
determining the health
and wellbeing of 500,000
UK citizens. The three-year
project will attempt to find
out which genes may cause
a predisposition to severe
short-sightedness.
Lead researcher Professor
Jeremy Guggenheim said:
“Our aim for this project
is not only to determine
what children are at risk of
developing high myopia,
HAND SANITISERS CAUSE EYE
INJURIES IN KIDS
The use of hand
sanitisers during the COVID-19
pandemic has led to eye
injuries in young children,
including serious corneal
lesions requiring surgery.
| MAR-APR 2021 | 14 OPTOMETRY NEWS
Mar-Apr 2021 SK News.indd 1 27-04-2021
but also to be able to
identify those who are
at above-average risk of
sight-threatening eye
disease. This will help us
to identify people who
would benefit from more
frequent monitoring to
detect early changes, since
early treatment is known to
improve clinical outcomes.”
“In the longer term, this
research will provide us with
a greater understanding of
the biological mechanisms
that cause myopia, which
will aid the development
of new treatments or
lifestyle changes for myopia
that are more effective than
those currently available,”
he added.
Director of Research at
Fight for Sight, Dr Neha
Issar-Brown said: “We are
delighted to partner with
Health and Care Research
Wales to fund this important
research study. We know
that when it comes to sight-
threatening eye conditions,
early detection is hugely
important, and developing
a genetic test to identify
children at greater risk of
severe short-sightedness will
allow for earlier intervention,
and in turn lead to better
outcomes for children.
Doctors in France said
that they noted a huge
increase in paediatric eye
injuries in 2020 from alcohol-
based hand sanitiser (ABHS)
including hospitalisations and
a corresponding increase in
surgeries required to manage
severe injuries.
As per the report published
in Jama Ophthalmology, the
national retrospective case
series review retrieved cases
from the French Poison Control
Centers national database and
a paediatric ophthalmology
referral hospital in Paris. It
found a seven-fold increase
of ABHS-related ocular
exposures in children in 2020
compared with 2019. There
were 63 exposures in 2020 in
public places from automatic
or foot-controlled dispensers
compared with none in 2019.
Public exposures rose in 2020
from 16.4 per cent in May to
52.4 per cent in August and
admissions to the eye hospital
for ABHS eye splatter increased
during the same period (16
children in 2020, mean age 3.5
years, versus one boy aged 16
months in 2019.)
Additionally, thirteen per
cent of those hospitalised
required surgery for severe
lesions. Eight presented with
a corneal and/or conjunctival
ulcer, involving more than 50
per cent of the corneal surface
for six of them. Two cases
required amniotic membrane
transplant.
“The paediatric specificity
of this outbreak is most likely
owing to the emplacement
of the gel dispenser in the
proximity of children’s faces,”
the French researchers said.
“Dispensers, often pressure-
operated via a pedal, allow
delivery of unit doses of ABHS.
However, these devices are
usually around one metre in
height, delivering ABHS at the
level of small children’s eyes.”
15:40