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Contact lenses are so ubiquitous — about 41 million people in the U.S. wear them — that it's easy to forget that they're actual medical devices, with small but real medical risks. An analysis published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined 1,075 reports of corneal infections related to contact lens use from the Food and Drug Administration's Medical Device Report database over a decade. To be sure, these were likely the worst of the worst of these types of infection and can't be considered representative of contact lens infections overall. But of those reports, almost 20 percent described a patient with injuries resulting in decreased vision or a corneal scar, or requiring a corneal transplant. (Hobson, 8/18)

Contact lens wearers must be vigilant in taking proper care of their lenses in order to prevent infections, the CDC warns in a new report. About 41 million Americans wear contact lenses. While they are a safe and effective alternative to glasses, contact lenses can lead to serious problems if not handled properly. In fact, the CDC reports that nearly one in five lens-related eye infections reported to a federal database involved a patient who experienced eye damage. (Welch, 8/18)