ABSTRACT
Corneal opacity, mostly as a sequel of infectious keratitis is a leading cause of preventable monocular blindness worldwide after cataract and glaucoma (Upadhyay et al. 1991; Gilbert et al. 1995; Whitcher et al. 2001; Resnikoff et al. 2004). Mycotic keratitis or fungal corneal ulcer usually presents as a suppurative and ulcerative corneal infection. Fungi are ubiquitous organisms that are more frequently implicated as ocular pathogens in agrarian, tropical countries than in the developed world (McLeod 2009). This type of keratitis reportedly occurs much more frequently in developing countries like India than in developed countries like United States. This entity may account for 30% to 62% of culture positive infectious keratitis in different studies in tropical and subtropical countries and at least 70 genera of fungi have been isolated from corneal specimen (Srinibasan et al. 1997; Agarwal et al. 2001; Gopinathan et al. 2002; Bharathi et al. 2003; Basak et al. 2005; Bandyopadhyay et al. 2012). The fi lamentous fungi, Aspergillus and Fusarium contribute up to 70% of the cultures (Agarwal et al. 1994). The determination of regional etiology is important as the causative fungi differ from region to region and within the same region over time. The incidence of fungal keratitis in the United States is about 1500 cases per year (O’Day 1996). The majority of cases occur in the warmer southern and southwestern states with septate fi lamentous fungi like Fusarium and Aspergillus as in most other parts of the world (O’Day 1996). But, in the northern states, Candida is the most frequently isolated fungal organism.
