Normal ocular flora in healthy eyes from a rural population in Sierra Leone

Purpose To identify the normal conjunctival flora in a rural population in Sierra Leone and compare the normal ocular flora of a developing country with that of the developed world. Methods Conjunctival swabs obtained from healthy right eyes of 276 residents of Masungbo, Sierra Leone, were analyzed for growth of microorganisms. Results The most commonly isolated organisms from conjunctival swabs of healthy eyes were coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (28.6%), fungus (26.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (19.9%), Gram negatives other than Pseudomonas/Haemophilus (9.8%), Nocardia/Actinomyces (6.5%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.2%). Conclusions There is a high prevalence of fungal and bacterial colonization of healthy eyes in a rural population of Sierra Leone. A relationship may exist between resident normal flora and the etiology of ocular infections.