An outbreak of bilateral photokeratitis and eyelid erythema following exposure to an artificial source of ultraviolet radiation, Tamil Nadu, India, 2018.

Autor:	Rubeshkumar P; Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP), ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.; Directorate of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu, India., Ponnaiah M; Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP), ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India., Prakash SV; Directorate of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu, India., Balasubramanian R; Ophthalmologist, General Hospital-Palani, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India., Somasundaram S; Directorate of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu, India., Premkumar B; Directorate of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu, India., Gounder KK; Directorate of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu, India., Murhekar MV; Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP), ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) [Environ Epidemiol] 2020 Nov 13; Vol. 4 (6), pp. e118. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Nov 13 (Print Publication: 2020).
DOI:	10.1097/EE9.0000000000000118
Abstrakt:	Metal halide lights (MHLs) emit ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and should be used with enclosed fixtures. We investigated a cluster of blurred vision in a locality in South India reported among light music event attendees to identify risk factors. Methods: We searched for attendees with any eye-related symptoms by door-to-door. We described cases by time, place, and person and inspected the environment to generate a hypothesis. We followed-up the cohort of the attendees to examine the hypothesis of exposure to MHL as the cause of the outbreak. We computed relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) by comparing attack rates among attendees by seating location and duration of exposure. Results: Of the total 500 attendees, we could interview 319 (64%) and 89% (284/319) attendees developed bilateral photokeratitis (median age = 24 years [range: 2-80 years]). Attack rate was higher among female (92% [172/189]) than male (85% [110/130]). Attack rate among those seated within 12 meters from dais was higher (95% [241/253]) than the rest (65% [43/66]; RR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.2, 1.7) and attack rate was higher among those continuously exposed to MHL (97% [268/277]) than others (38% [16/42]; RR = 2.5; 95% CI = 1.7, 3.7). The duration of exposure was associated with increased risk of bilateral photokeratitis (χ 2 test for linear trend = 74; P < 0.00001). During the environmental inspection, we identified the use of MHL with a broken outer envelope. Conclusions: Photokeratitis was associated with exposure to UVR from MHL with a broken outer envelope. We recommended the usage of MHL along with enclosed fixtures. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with regard to the content of this report. (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of Environmental Epidemiology. All rights reserved.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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