Conjunctivitis: unclassified conjunctivitis
A condition known as giant papillary and giant follicular conjunctivitis (GPC/GFC) sometimes occurs in people who wear contact lenses. It is similar in appearance to vernal keratoconjunctivitis. It is most common in people who wear soft contact lenses, but is occasionally seen in hard lens wearers.
The condition may be due to the effect of cleansing material (which contains the preservative thiomersal) on the lenses, but it often occurs because the surface of the lens material itself has changed over time.
Sometimes the condition improves if you:
- wear your contact lenses for less time;
- change the lens material to another polymer; and
- wash the lens in sterile saline after first washing it in an anti-bacterial solution.
A daily cleaner is essential in spite of some manufacturers’ recommendations. This is because ‘one-shot’ solutions do not remove all the mucus from the front surface of the lens.
Although the symptoms of unclassified conjunctivitis appear similar to allergy symptoms, doctors haven’t identified a specific cause. However, usually it disappears when a person stops wearing contact lenses and recurs if they start wearing them again.
Last Reviewed: 02 January 2002
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