Flesh-eating parasite almost sent me BLIND in one eye… but what’s scarier is where I caught it

A woman was left partially blind after a… A flesh-eating parasite has taken up residence in her left eye and she fears she contracted it at the pool.

Shereen-Fay Griffin, from Crayford in Kent, went for a regular swim at a local leisure center in August last year.

But just two days later, the 38-year-old’s left eye began to itch and hurt.

During repeated appointments with the GP and ophthalmologist, she was prescribed antibiotics, eye drops and steroids.

Still, the pain worsened and weeks later, in November 2022, she woke up one morning blind in her left eye.

Shereen-Fay Griffin, from Crayford, Kent, went for a regular swim at a local leisure center in August last year. But just two days later, the 38-year-old’s left eye began to itch and hurt. During repeated appointments with her GP and ophthalmologist, she was prescribed antibiotic eye drops and steroids. Still, the pain worsened and just weeks later, in November 2022, she woke up one morning blind in her left eye.

After months of uncertainty, doctors finally diagnosed a flesh-eating bacterial infection, acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), which can cause permanent and significant vision loss.

Doctors eventually diagnosed Ms. Griffin as having acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), which can cause permanent vision loss.

The amoeba literally eats into the cornea – the clear ‘window’ at the front of the eye – causing severe pain and extreme sensitivity to light.

AK is common in soil and water, including tap water, rivers, swimming pools and hot tubs.

It can get into the eyes through gardening, but the main cause is poor contact lens hygiene. Droplets containing the microscopic parasite can easily become trapped between the cornea and the lens itself.

Mrs Griffin, a learning support assistant at a secondary school, told MailOnline: ‘My eye was sore, itchy and scratchy.

After over-the-counter treatment failed to solve the problem, she went to her GP on September 1, who prescribed a week’s course of antibiotics and urgently referred her to Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. There, an ophthalmologist diagnosed her with herpes simplex eye infection – a viral infection that can cause painful, red eyes.

‘My eyelid was heavy and I felt tired.

‘I was swimming. I used the pool and shower there. I also washed my face at home in the morning and evening.’

After over-the-counter treatment failed to solve the problem, she went to her GP on September 1, who prescribed her a week’s course of antibiotics.

She was given an urgent referral to Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.

There, an ophthalmologist diagnosed her with herpes simplex eye infection – a viral infection that can cause painful, red eyes.

She was given steroids and antibacterial eye drops.

But in the days that followed, her symptoms worsened, she claimed.

Mrs Griffin said: ‘I had a constant dull pain in my eye. It didn’t seem right, but it was doable in everyday life.’

She claimed she was told she would be called for a follow-up appointment within a week, but that did not happen.

Mrs Griffin said: “I hadn’t had a follow-up appointment. My eye was still in pain and I was running out of eye medicine.

“I spent a few weeks calling the hospital before I went in to see what was going on.”

Here she was given additional medication and sent home.

But on November 9, she woke up “in the most excruciating pain.”

On November 9, she woke up “in the most excruciating pain.” She said: ‘It wasn’t until ten weeks with no follow-up appointment and steroids four times a day, when I woke up in the most excruciating pain and completely blind in that eye.’ After immediately going to the hospital, a doctor diagnoses her with AK. Caused by a single organism, acanthamoeba, it attacks the cornea, the outer layer of the eye

After her diagnosis, Ms Griffin opted to go to the private Wellington Hospital in London, where doctors told her the steroids she had been prescribed had made things worse, she claimed.

She said: ‘It wasn’t until ten weeks with no follow-up appointment and steroids four times a day, when I woke up in the most excruciating pain and completely blind in that eye.’

After she went to the hospital, a doctor diagnosed her with AK.

According to Vision Scotland, it affects around one in 50,000 people in Britain every year.

Symptoms typically include eye pain, redness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, and corneal tearing.

Patients are usually treated with prescription medications, but if the infection is left undiagnosed it can cause scarring and blindness.

After her diagnosis, Ms Griffin chose to go to the private Wellington Hospital in London, where doctors told her that the The steroids she had been prescribed had made matters worse, she claimed.

One study, published in the Review of Optometry in 2021, suggested that topical steroids may hinder the treatment of patients with AK because it could inhibit the immune response.

She added: “I was bedridden for three weeks and housebound for four months. I was absent for a total of five months.

‘I don’t have a left-wing view that prevents me from participating in activities like football with my students.

‘I have dull ache, dryness, itching, aching and still some light sensitivity as my pupil struggles to dilate due to the anxiety in the front of my eye.

“(I will get my sight back) only if I agree to a cornea transplant that may not work.”

Moorfields Eye Hospital said: ‘The infection is caused by a microscopic organism called Acanthamoeba, which is common in nature and usually found in bodies of water, but also in domestic tap water, swimming pools, hot tubs, soil and air.

‘(They) generally do not cause harm to humans, but they can cause serious eye disease if they infect the cornea.’