Health South-East takes action after sharp increase in serious eye infections – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio

Health South-East is postponing all bilateral cataract operations until the infection situation has been clarified, writes VG. This means that they only recommend operating on one eye at a time. Seven out of eleven patients who recently underwent cataract surgery at a private clinic in Sandefjord have been admitted to hospital. A bacterial infection is suspected, but nothing has been confirmed. About cataracts Cataracts are an eye disease where the lens inside the eye loses its clarity. This leads to “blurred vision”, that is, impaired vision both at a distance and up close. Cataracts are common among older people. Among 75-year-olds, half have such lens changes. The eye disease is the leading cause of blindness in the world. (Source: Norsk Helseinformatikk) Big increase The reason this move is being taken now is that there has been a sharp increase in eye infections after cataract surgery in 2024. – In 2023, around 30,000 cataract surgeries were performed in Health South-East. We have been in contact with the other health regions, and the same accumulation of endophthalmitis has not been detected there, writes Ivar Greiner, special adviser at the communication department at the hospital, in an e-mail to VG. Work on this was started before they were aware of the outbreak in Sandefjord, he says. Still hospitalized All seven patients who were operated on in Sandefjord are still hospitalized after operations, Oslo University Hospital said on Tuesday. The patients have undergone an operation called a vitrectomy and put antibiotics into the eye. It can take weeks to months before anything is known about the final prognosis, according to the hospital. Published 20.11.2024, at 12.35 Updated 20.11.2024, at 13.05



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