1318 • CID 2018:66 (15 April) • CORRESPONDENCE
resistance gene acquisition as the result
of FMT is an important consideration
in using FMT therapy. Tis risk should
be balanced against the potential bene-
fts of the FMT procedure for preventing
recurrent CDI and for multidrug-resist-
ant organism (MDRO) decolonization.
Tird, it is interesting to note that deple-
tion of clinically meaningful resistance
genes occurred in almost all recipients,
despite the inclusion of 8 unique donors.
However, the degree of gene depletion var-
ied by donor–recipient pair. For example,
pairs 5 and 8 experienced the loss of many
more resistance genes than the other pairs.
Currently, the clinical evidence for FMT
MDRO decolonization efcacy is still very
limited, and there may be signifcant dif-
ferences in efcacy by unrecognized host
factors and by the bacterial species being
targeted (eg, extended spectrum β-lacta-
mase–producing Escherichia coli vs van-
comycin-resistant enterococci). More
intervention studies of FMT are needed to
determine MDRO decolonization efect-
iveness, safety, durability, and mechanism
of action in a wider spectrum of potential
recipients.
Note
Potential conflicts of interest. A. R.
M. has received research funding from a 2011
Pfizer Aspire Antibacterial Research Award.
M. M. has been an employee of bioMérieux
since October 2012. C. V. received a student-
ship from the Research Institute of the McGill
University Health Centre, as well as a Frederick
Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate
Scholarship (Doctoral Award) from the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (GSD-
113375). C. V. also has been an employee of
Roche Diagnostics since 2016. All other authors
report no potential conflicts. All authors have
submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of
Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that
the editors consider relevant to the content of
the manuscript have been disclosed.
Victor Leung,
1
Caroline Vincent,
2
Thaddeus J. Edens,
3
Mark A. Miller,
4
and
Amee R. Manges
5,6
1
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
2
Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal,
Quebec,
3
Devil’s Staircase Consulting, West Vancouver,
British Columbia,
4
Division of Infectious Diseases, McGill
University, Montreal, Quebec,
5
School of Population and
Public Health, and
6
British Columbia Centre for Disease
Control, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
References
1. Leung V, Vincent C, Edens T, Miller M, Manges
AR. Antimicrobial resistance gene acquisition and
depletion following fecal microbiota transplanta-
tion (FMT) for recurrent Clostridium difficile infec-
tion [manuscript published online ahead of print 15
September 2017]. Clin Infect Dis 2017;66:456–457.
2. Davido B, Salomon J, Lawrence C, et al. Impact of
fecal microbiota transplantation for decolonization
of multidrug-resistant organisms may vary accord-
ing to donor microbiota. Clin Infect Dis 2018;
66:1316–7.
© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for
the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
DOI: 10.1093/cid/cix964
Correspondence: Amee R. Manges, UBC School of Population
and Public Health, British Columbia Centre for Disease
Control, 215–655 W 12th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4R4, Canada
(amee.manges@ubc.ca).
Clinical Infectious Diseases
®
2018;66(8):1317–8
Visual Disability in Ebola
Survivors
To the Editor—We commend Jagadesh
et al [1] for their important contribu-
tion highlighting the levels of disability
among Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone
following the 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic.
Quantifable measures of disability,
especially in relation to psychological and
social impacts on survivors and their fami-
lies, following the epidemic are challenging
to quantify and neglected in Sierra Leone.
Visual disability following the Ebola
epidemic is one aspect which is amen-
able to quantifable assessment with
defned defnitions of visual impairment.
In Jagadesh et al [1], Ebola survivors
(n = 27) describe major limitations in
vision and a higher odds of self-reported
blurred vision (adjusted odds ratio, 7.6;
95% confdence interval [CI], 2.0–27.9)
in comparison to their close contacts
(n = 54) using the Washington Group
Disability Extended Questionnaire.
Our recent study [2] recalled survivors
(n = 82) from the 34 Military Hospital
Survivors clinic who had previously
reported ocular symptoms, in addition to
Ebola survivors who self-presented to the
eye clinic with a median time from Ebola
treatment unit discharge over 1 year
(411 days; interquartile range, 368–470
days). We reported their best eye visual
acuity was normal (uncorrected Snellen
visual acuity <6/7.5) in 74.7% (97.5%
CI, 62.1%–84.9%) of survivors in this
cohort. Moderate or worse visual acuity
(uncorrected Snellen visual acuity >6/24)
in their best eye was only found in 2.6%
(97.5% CI, 0–7.8%).
In the discussion, it is stated that “long-
term cataract replacement is frequently
indicated.” In our cohort, we found that
only 7.3% (97.5% CI, 2.3%–16.5%) of
survivors (who had previously reported
ocular symptoms) had evidence of white
cataract, all of which were unilateral, with
vision preserved in their contralateral
eye. Eighty percent of eyes with cataract
secondary to Ebola uveitis also had evi-
dence of hypotony. In these cases, surgery
is likely to be complex, with a poor visual
prognosis, and may increase the risk of
phthisis bulbi. Terefore, cataract surgery
may not always be indicated.
It is worth considering visual disabil-
ity among Ebola survivors within the
wider context of visual disability in Sierra
Leone. Te latest Rapid Assessment of
Avoidable Blindness survey in Sierra
Leone, conducted in 2010, reported a rate
of blindness of 1% [3], 50 times greater
than that of the United Kingdom [4] and
potentially reversible in the 39% of blind-
ness secondary to cataracts [3]. With only
5 ophthalmology consultants in Sierra
Leone serving a population of 7.3 mil-
lion [5], interventions toward improving
eye care for Ebola survivors should not
overlook the need and opportunity to
strengthen the eye care sector as a whole,
which may be limited by ring-fenced
Ebola survivor–specifc international
funding.
Note
Potential conficts of interest. N. A. V. B.
has received nonfnancial support from Optos,
grant support from Bayer, and personal fees
from AbbVie. M. G. S. has received grants
from the Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, and UK National Institute for
Health Research Health Protection Research
Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections.
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