Envision Newsletter - Wills Eye

doing research to increase the use of the shingles
vaccine according to current national recommendations,”
explained Dr. Cohen. “We’re looking at
various interventions that could increase vaccination
rates, including patient education, making the
vaccine more readily availability in the hospital
pharmacy so it can be administered by a nurse and
health maintenance reminder alerts. We’re also
surveying NYU primary care physicians’ knowledge
and practices regarding herpes zoster and the vaccine
before interventions and one year after.”
Are cases of shingles on the rise? As more and more
children get vaccinated for chicken pox, that disease
becomes less common. Doctors think that if
children don’t contract chicken pox, adults will
have fewer opportunities to boost their immunity
through mild exposure to the virus.
According to the CDC, the risk of shingles increases
as a person ages. About half of all cases occur among
men and women aged 60 and older. e CDC
recommends that adults ages 60 and older be
vaccinated against shingles. e shingles vaccine
is FDA approved for ages 50 and older, but it is
often not covered by insurance until age 60.
Without insurance coverage, the vaccine costs
between $200 and $250 at local pharmacies.
Inspired by their colleague’s experience, Drs.
Rapuano and Hammersmith and the fellows of the
Cornea Service gathered data from patients, trying
to determine the average age of onset of shingles
around the eye. eir results confirmed their
suspicion: a little over half of their shingles patients
were younger than age 60. Out of a total of 112
patients studied, 58 were younger than age 60;
54 patients were ages 60 and older. eir research
is being published in Ophthalmology, in an effort
to encourage physicians to recommend shingles
vaccinations to adults ages 50 and older.
“We want patients to ask if they are eligible for the
vaccine, and doctors to strongly recommend it to
immunocompetent patients, ages 50 plus, if they
are willing and able to pay for it,” said Dr. Cohen.
Dr. Rapuano and his colleagues encourage their
patients ages 50 and older to consult their primary
care physician for more information about getting
the shingles vaccine.
‚ FuRTHER InFoRmATIon:
Wills Eye Cornea Service study on onset of shingles:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21788078
Centers for Disease Control information:
http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/index.html
Ten Commandments of Contact Lens Care
In 1508, Leonardo da Vinci
sketched drawings and
calculations of a corrective lens
that could be part of the eye. In
the 1800s, English astronomer
Sir John Herschel came up with
a glass lens that would sit directly
on the eye’s surface. In 1961,
Dr. Otto Wichterle, a Czech
chemist, used a water-absorbing
plastic to produce the world’s
first soft contact lenses and in
1971, Bausch and Lomb began
mass production of contact
lenses.
Today, about 34 million people
in the United States wear contact
lenses; and the vast majority of
them do so easily and safely. But
contact lenses are so common
that it leads some wearers to take
them for granted and get sloppy
with lens cleaning and care.
Doctors will tell you how
quickly vision troubles and eye
complications can occur, if
proper contact lens usage guidelines
are not carefully followed.
“We see patients several times a
month
who have
corneal
ulcers from
falling
asleep wearing their lenses,” said
Dr. Parveen Nagra. “If a speck
of dirt or dust gets behind the
contact lens it will irritate the
cornea all night long. If you
wear contacts you have to be
meticulous about care and
keep them clean to avoid
contamination. If your lenses
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