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. 2023 Jul 13;11(7):1802.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11071802.

Ocular Bacterial Infections: A Ten-Year Survey and Review of Causative Organisms Based on the Oklahoma Experience

Roger A Astley  1 , Md Huzzatul Mursalin  1 , Phillip S Coburn  1 , Erin T Livingston  2 , James W Nightengale  1 , Eddy Bagaruka  3 , Jonathan J Hunt  3 , Michelle C Callegan  1   2   4
Affiliations

Ocular Bacterial Infections: A Ten-Year Survey and Review of Causative Organisms Based on the Oklahoma Experience

Roger A Astley et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Ocular infections can be medical emergencies that result in permanent visual impairment or blindness and loss of quality of life. Bacteria are a major cause of ocular infections. Effective treatment of ocular infections requires knowledge of which bacteria are the likely cause of the infection. This survey of ocular bacterial isolates and review of ocular pathogens is based on a survey of a collection of isolates banked over a ten-year span at the Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma. These findings illustrate the diversity of bacteria isolated from the eye, ranging from common species to rare and unique species. At all sampled sites, staphylococci were the predominant bacteria isolated. Pseudomonads were the most common Gram-negative bacterial isolate, except in vitreous, where Serratia was the most common Gram-negative bacterial isolate. Here, we discuss the range of ocular infections that these species have been documented to cause and treatment options for these infections. Although a highly diverse spectrum of species has been isolated from the eye, the majority of infections are caused by Gram-positive species, and in most infections, empiric treatments are effective.

Keywords: Staphylococcus; bacteria; conjunctivitis; endophthalmitis; keratitis; ocular infection; survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of ocular bacterial isolates collected according to anatomic site (A), and distribution of the number of ocular bacterial isolates collected over the ten-year period of March 2011 to March 2022 (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of bacteria, staining reaction, and morphology. Data are represented as the percentage of bacterial genera (A), Gram stain reaction (B), and bacterial morphology (C) of isolates in the ocular bacterial isolate survey.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of bacterial genera and species at anatomic sites of the eye. Data are represented as percent of genera and species isolated from a particular ocular site.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of specific species within a genus of ocular bacterial isolates. Data are represented as a percent of isolates of Staphylococcus (A), Streptococcus (B), Corynebacterium (C), Pseudomonas (D), and Moraxella (E) noted in this survey.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(A) Distribution of hemolytic coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) compared with CoNS isolates over a ten-year span. Data are demonstrated as percent CoNS in the total isolate pool and percent hemolytic CoNS in the total isolate pool. (B) Representative examples of the variety of hemolysis phenotypes of CoNS isolates after overnight incubation at 37 °F on 5% sheep blood agar. Direct hemolysis surrounding a colony is likely derived from synthesis of a hemolytic toxin or enzyme from growing CoNS, while synergistic hemolysis between colonies may be derived from the interaction of one or more of these hemolysins. Hemolysis of S. aureus lab strains 8325-4 and RN4220 are also shown for comparison.
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