The Fungus Among Us

Is apparently on our contact lenses. I wonder if it's a nationwide problem, or mostly just a Floridian semi-tropical idiosyncracy?:

Spadafora, of Malden, Mass., is among the dozens of contact lens wearers in the United States left groping for glasses thanks to blurred vision and pain from Fusarium keratitis, a nasty fungal infection. Health authorities say most of the victims in 17 states were using ReNu with MoistureLoc eye solution to cleanse their contacts.

The outbreak also has many of the nation's 30 million soft contact wearers tossing out their ReNu-MoistureLoc bottles and turning to other products. Stores and optometrists are taking the solution off their shelves.

Optometrists around the country say they're inundated with calls from patients asking what to do. Florida has the highest number of cases in the country, with more than 50 reported so far.

... The stock price for Bausch & Lomb, the maker of ReNu, has plummeted -- even though not everyone is convinced the company's product is the real culprit, including Dr. Harry Zink, president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Bottles of the solution have been tested by Bausch & Lomb and independent doctors and no contamination has been found.

Fusarium is commonly found in plant material and soil in tropical and subtropical regions. Without eye drop treatment, which can last two to three months, the infection can scar the cornea and blind its victims.