Table 2

Ophthalmological and microbiological aspects of cases

Case	Unit	Colonising organism (day post admission)	Time between colonisation and corneal ulceration (days)	Ocular isolate	Ocular pathology	Ocular outcome
1	A	P aeruginosa	3	P aeruginosa	Bilateral corneal ulcers	R clear graft
		(3)			R corneal perforation requiring graft	amblyopia
						VA 2/60 corrected
						L scar below visual axis
						VA 6/4 uncorrected
2	A	P aeruginosa	3	P aeruginosa	L corneal ulcer and abscess	L corneal ulcer at death
		(5)
3	A	P aeruginosa	2	P aeruginosa	Bilateral corneal ulcers	R clear graft
		(6)			R corneal perforation requiring graft	cataract
						VA 6/60 corrected
						L corneal scar
						VA 6/6 uncorrected
4	A	P aeruginosa	1	Culture negative	Bilateral corneal ulcers	R epithelial changes
		(4)				VA 6/18 corrected
						L corneal scar
						VA 6/18 corrected
5	A	Streptococcus viridans	1	Streptococcus viridans	R epithelial defect	Bilateral epithelial defects at death
		(1)			L corneal ulcer
6	A	P aeruginosa	2	P aeruginosa	L corneal ulcer and abscess	L corneal ulcer at death
		(11)

7	B	P aeruginosa	11	P aeruginosa	R corneal ulcer and perforation requiring graft		R clear graft
		(6)			R corneal ulcer and perforation requiring graft		VA 6/24 corrected
8	B	P aeruginosa	4	P aeruginosa	R corneal ulcer and perforation	R failed graft and implant
		(18)			R corneal graft	VA HM

9	C	Streptococcus aureus	7	Streptococcus aureus	Bilateral corneal ulcers	Bilateral corneal scars
		(4)				NPL (occipital infarcts)

↵Colonisation of respiratory tract, except cases 7 and 8 where wounds became colonised.
↵Topical antibiotics commenced before swabs taken.
VA = visual acuity; HM = hard movements; NPL = no perception of light.