2nd of its kind in the world, A patients’ account of serious eye disease

Indian Express, Mumbai Newsline, Page 3, May 2, 2007

by, Priyanka Bhosale

Mumbai, May 2:Little did 25-year-old software engineer Rajesh Sawant know that a seemingly insignificant boil on his lower eyelid would cost him his vision. In just two days Rajesh had lost his sight in the left eye completely.

The eye had turned red and there was a discharge and severe swelling of the lids. It had also been paining constantly. It was only when he went to Dr Debraj Shome, head of ophthalmic and facial plastic surgery department, aditya jyot eye hospital that he discovered that he was suffering from nercrotising fasciitis, an acute condition where an organism enters the skin and affects the underlying, subcutaneous tissues. Sawant’s case is the second such case to be reported in the world, said Dr Debraj Shome.

“As necrotising fasciitis is a life threatening disorder, we removed the dead tissue immediately while the live tissue was cleaned with betadine solution. The patient was then admitted and was started on broad-spectrum intra-venous antibiotics.” But, all was not well for Sawant who did not respond to antibiotics for 48 hours. At this stage, the doctor suspected a multi-drug resistant bug. “I wanted the pain to subside as soon as possible because I didn’t want to stay away from work for long,” he says.

The microbiology report confirmed the doctors’ fears. It was a strain of Community Acquired Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (CAMRSA), which means that the bacteria was resistant even to the latest and strongest antibiotics. “we first tried augmentin, the strongest drug possible. Bu the bacteria showed resistance to it. Based on the culture sensitivity report, which assesses the effect of certain drugs on the organism, we tried vancomycin, a relatively older but highly toxic drug,added Dr Debraj Shome.