Global Member Newsletter July 2022
IACLETOP UPDATE
French area launches on IACLETOP
The IACLE Education Team has developed a French Area within IACLETOP for our French-speaking members. The area includes how-to guides, access to IACLE resources and information on the new French Student Area. Upon registration, members are granted access to a Student Area where educators can use the Student Trial Exam (STE) to assess their students’ contact lens knowledge. We offer a new entry-level STE, as well as the original exam for third and fourth-year students.
Register here to access a Student Area
GLOBAL WEBINAR IN JULY
Contact lens contamination and antimicrobial strategies to avoid adverse events
Join Dr Debarun Dutta, lecturer at Aston University in Birmingham, UK, on Wednesday 20 July at 12 noon UK (BST) for a global webinar on ‘Contact lens contamination and antimicrobial strategies to avoid adverse events’. This webinar will be chaired by IACLE Director Fakhruddin Barodawala and introduced by IACLE Bronze Sponsor Ophtecs.
Find out what time the webinar begins in your time zone
NEWS IN JULY
Image of the Month
Gauri Kunjeer from Nagar Chasmaghar in Ahmedabad, India, captured this image using a slit lamp biomicroscope with a camera and diffused illumination. The patient complained of decreased wearing time, diminished vision, and redness with their current scleral lenses fitted elsewhere. Investigations revealed neovascularization and conjunctival oedema due to scleral lens abuse – overwearing, occasional sleeping in lenses, and improper solution use.
Would you like to feature in next month’s Image of the Month?
RESOURCES
Rub-and-rinse step for human coronaviruses
A new paper from Lifetime FIACLE Professor Lyndon Jones and colleagues reports that human coronaviruses are easily removed from contact lens surfaces via a rub-and-rinse step. The viruses evaluated (HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43) were assessed across a range of contact lens materials and solutions. The authors recommend that a full rub-and-rinse step is required to efficiently remove these viruses when non-oxidative care systems are used.
Dr Bitton authors article on soft contact lenses in dry eye
IACLE Treasurer / Secretary Dr Etty Bitton from the University of Montreal in Canada presents a review article on the use of soft contact lenses in patients with dry eye in the Summer 2022 Edition of the online quarterly newsletter ‘Soft Special’. Dr Bitton argues that lenses can be both a ‘friend’ (offering a bandage effect in some cases) and a ‘foe’ (potentially increasing symptoms of discomfort) in relation to the tear film and dry eyes. The article concludes by suggesting that ongoing innovation is likely to provide solutions to current contact lens challenges.
COVID-19 RESOURCES
A recent study, including responses from 728 soft contact lens wearers, revealed a favorable outcome for contact lens educators and other stakeholders as most contact lens wearers reported maintaining or increasing their lens use during the pandemic. Most respondents also expressed a desire to return to pre-pandemic wear times once the pandemic is over.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR REGIONS?
AMERICAS
A round-up of the latest Spanish-speaking webinars
The IACLE Americas Office reached 185 IACLE members, students, and eye care practitioners within the last month. Juan Pablo Luna spoke on ‘In office tools for correcting astigmatism’, Jeannine Hernandez discussed ‘Mask-associated dry eye’, Ruben Velazquez delivered a talk on the importance of contact lens practice for visual disabilities, and Juan Camilo Cuesta’s webinar topic was ‘Measurement scales: tools to advise, describe, and evolve clinical findings’.
Read the full Americas meeting report
ASIA PACIFIC
Contact lens care session in China
On 14 June, China National Coordinators Professor Qu Xiaomei and Professor Wang Haiying delivered a webinar on ‘Lens care options and safe care of contact lenses’. During the session, Dr Tian Xin from Johnson & Johnson gave a short review on lens care. A total of 70 IACLE members and eye care practitioners attended the interactive session.
Read the full Asia Pacific meeting report
EUROPE / AFRICA / MIDDLE EAST
IACLE meets at the NCC
The 2022 meeting of the Netherlands Contactlens Congress (NCC) took place on 26-27 June in Veldhoven, the Netherlands. During the congress, FIACLEs Henri Eek and Wim Borst organized a session on ‘The future of contact lens fitting’, opened by IACLE President Professor Philip Morgan, who provided an update on IACLE activity and future plans. He also gave a special thanks to IACLE sponsors for their continued support.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
IACLE TLC (Teach. Learn. Connect) WEBINARS
Visit the IACLE Webinars area on IACLETOP to view the schedule for upcoming webinars.
GLOBAL MEETINGS IN COMING MONTHS
6th International Congress of Scleral Contacts (ICSC), Florida, USA, 29-30 July. Details.
Cornea & Contact Lens Society Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 11-13 August. Details.
Assottica Conference, Milan, Italy, 2-3 October. Details.
Congress of the Spanish Association of Contactology and Ocular Surface, Alicante, Spain, 7-9 October. Details.
The Summit of Specialty Contacts, Sorrento, Italy, 14-16 October. Details.
American Academy of Optometry, San Diego, USA, 26-29 October. Details.
3rd Asia Optometric Congress and 8th ASEAN Optometric Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 15-16 November. Details.
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