Introduction

Corneal infection is the most common cause of monocular corneal blindness worldwide.^[1] The ocular trauma and corneal ulceration results in 1.5–2 million new cases of corneal blindness annually.^[2] As per recent worldwide lists on the causes of blindness, corneal opacity is the second-most common cause of blindness and visual disability in developing countries.^[3],[4] Corneal blindness due to keratitis is a major public health problem in India. The most common causes of corneal blindness are infections made worse by the lack of proper nutrition due to poverty and illiteracy. Ulcerative keratitis must be considered as an ocular emergency. Early recognition with prompt diagnosis and rapid institution of appropriate therapy will significantly improve visual prognosis.

This study was undertaken to evaluate current status, the incidence of infectious keratitis in this part of rural central India and its visual morbidity.

Materials and Methods

It was a prospective observational hospital-based study conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology, at a tertiary care hospital, in Katihar, Bihar India. The study was conducted with the approval of the Institutional Ethics committee with proper consent taken from the patients.

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Dr Arjun Kumar Singh

A/39 PC Colony Opposite to Arun Jeitly Park Kankarbagh Patna 800020, Bihar, India