Trachoma : Diagnosis and Treatment

Abstract

MEDICAL treatment has undergone revolutionary changes since the recent discovery of many new therapeutic agents, and this progress has been fully shared by ophthalmology. Such advances have unfortunately been accompanied by the appearance, in both scientific and popular periodicals, of quite incredible claims for the therapeutic effect of certain remedies. Trachoma, a widespread and incapacitating disease, has been the subject of many such communications, and surgeons with a limited experience of the condition are left in doubt as to which of a number of chemical and antibiotic agents should be exhibited in their method of treatment. EDIAGNOSISIn trachoma, the necessary criteria for its early diagnosis must first be considered, and by this I mean the pathognomonic signs of the disease. The aetiology is still uncertain, and I agree with Duke-Elder (1943) that " at the present time we must admit that the organismal cause of trachoma is unknown ".

Animal Models of Bacterial Keratitis

“…Other early studies of note were focused on neonatal conjunctivitis and its treatment [ 5 – 7 ] as well as gonococcal and tuberculous eye infections [ 7 , 8 ]. The majority of reports at that time were observational studies of clinical cases and outcomes following treatment with penicillin, sulphonamides, or newer antibiotics such as tetracyclines and macrolides [ 1 – 3 , 5 , 9 – 14 ]. Since that time, studies of ocular bacterial infections expanded to address the mechanisms of pathogenesis and the inflammatory response in a so-called “immune-privileged” site.…”