Outpatient Eye Clinic Research Articles

Viral studies of the normal eye.

The medical literature has reflected an increasing interest in viral diseases of the eye. 1,2 While many of the reports concern the clinically diseased eye, little attention has been directed to the viral flora of the normal conjunctival sac. The bacterial flora of the human eye has been studied extensively, and such information is important in evaluating microbial disease of the eye. 3,4 It is equally significant to ascertain a base line of the normal viral flora of the human eye. This report concerns such a study on 200 eyes. Materials and Methods The clinically normal eyes of 100 persons were investigated for the presence of virus in the conjunctival sac. Patients coming to the Outpatient Eye Clinic of the University of Texas-Medical Branch Hospitals were chosen. The eye patients were chosen because the specimens could be taken as routine on the new patients with a minimum of time and