Optometric physician Michelle Monkman doesn’t want to scare people who wear soft contact lenses. She just wants them to be aware of dangers that might be lurking inside their bottles of contact lens solution.

One danger, is a rare, aggressive infection that can damage eyes and even cause blindness in a matter of hours.

Though AMO Complete MoisturePlus was voluntarily recalled in May and Bausch & Lomb’s Renu with MoistureLoc was taken off shelves more than a year ago, Monkman often runs across patients who are unaware and still use the products.

Some contact lens wearers stocked up before the recalls, Monkman said.

“A lot of people buy in bulk,” she said. “When you buy eight big boxes of Renu at Costco, it will probably last for three years.”

A microscopic amoeba is the culprit in Complete MoisturePlus. The creature, though found commonly in the human environment, can wreak havoc in a person’s cornea if the conditions are just right. If the amoeba infiltrates, it can result in an ocular disease called Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).

“The really scary thing about this kind of infection is you can lose your vision within hours,” Monkman said. “It eats your cornea.”

The tiny amoeba has been isolated in water from swimming pools and hot tubs, soil, air and drinking water. Most people come into contact with the amoeba during their lifetime and don’t even notice. With just the right conditions, however, infection sets in and ravages the cornea, turning it white.

University of Chicago at Illinois researchers found a 16-fold likelihood that users of AMO Complete MoisturePlus would develop AK, when compared to those who had not.

The Center for Disease Control notified Advanced Medical Optics of Santa Ana of the findings.

Advanced Medical Optics issued a voluntary recall and urged consumers to stop using the product immediately and to dispose of all solution, lens, and containers. They advised customers to trash anything that might have come in contact with allegedly tainted solution.

Symptoms can include eye pain and redness, blurred vision, light sensitivity, grittiness in the eye, and excessive tearing.

“It can feel like pinkeye,” Monkman said. “It tends to be pretty uncomfortable.”

So far, Monkman said, none of the victims are Oregonians.

“We’ve been lucky,” she said, “but it’s conceivable it could happen here.”

The manufacturer estimates the recall will reduce net sales by more than $100 million. MoisturePlus previously accounted for about 10 percent of the company’s sales.

The problem with Bausch & Lomb Renu contact lens solution involves a type of fungus called Fusarium. The company discontinued production after the solution was linked with several hundred cases of the serious eye infection in Asia and the United States.

Monkman advises contact lens wearers to save themselves from general eye infections with proper lens cleaning practices.

“Many people who get infections don’t clean their case or replace it often enough,” she said.

Contact lens wearers should wash their hands before handling lenses and shouldn’t mess around if they experience symptoms like pain, redness, discharge and blurred vision.

“Take your contacts out and come in,” Monkman said, “not next week.”