MYCOTIC KERATITIS - SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ANTISEPTIC AGENTS

Oculomycosis is a severe problem in most developing countries. Specifi c antifungal agents are often unavailable, and are expensive. The use of antiseptic agents was therefore explored. Fungal isolates from pati ents in India and Ghana were tested against chlorhexidine, povidone io dine, propamidine, and polyhexamethylenebiguanide, and compared with e conazole by placing the drugs in wells made in Sabouraud's agar plates seeded with the test organism. Fungal sensitivity testing is a conten tious area but this method is simple and cheap. Chlorhexidine showed a good dose related response, povidone iodine showed a good response at all concentrations and econazole was the most effective in vitro. A s mall pilot study was conducted in India to assess clinical efficacy fo r fungal corneal ulcers. Both chlorhexidine and econazole proved effec tive but povidone iodine was ineffective. We suggest that chlorhexidin e may be a useful first line agent for fungal keratitis when other ant ifungals are not available.