Is Acanthamoeba sp. normally found in the eyes? A study was carried out to establish the possibility of Acanthamoeba sp. as a part of the normal conjunctival flora. Conjunctiva swabbing were carried out in 286 healthy Orang Asli school children using sterile cotton swab. The swab was then inoculated onto non-nutrient agar (NN-A). Heat killed Escherichia coli that was used as food source for the growth of the amoebae was pipetted onto and away from the smear. The plates were incubated at 30 degrees C and examined daily using an inverted microscope for 14 days. Morphology of the trophozoites and cysts of the amoebae were used as the taxonomic criteria for identification. Positive-controls and negative-controls were done to check for the consistency of the technique used and monitoring of contamination respectively. None of the conjunctiva swab cultured was positive for Acanthamoeba sp. This finding may indicate that Acanthamoeba sp. is not part of normal conjunctival flora or conjunctiva swab is an insensitive technique to isolate the organism. However, a more extensive research is needed to investigate these possibilities.
A new enterovirus, now classified as enterovirus type 70, was isolated from the conjunctiva of patients with acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis during the 1971 epidemics that occurred in Japan, Singapore, and Morocco. These epidemics were parts of a pandemic involving Africa (Algeria, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, and Tunisia), Asia (Cambodia, China (Province of Taiwan), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand), and England during 1969-71. A representative strain from each of the three epidemic areas was studied cooperatively. The strains exhibited the physicochemical characteristics of enteroviruses. Cross-neutralization tests showed that these viruses were distinct from all known human enterovirus immunotypes, but that they were antigenically closely related. The human origin of the viruses was demonstrated by the appearance of homologous neutralizing antibodies during convalescence in patients with acute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis.