Jaipur: Eighteen cataract surgery patients at Jaipur’s SMS Hospital also suffered eye infections in June 2023, in an outbreak similar to the one reported at Kuchaman govt hospital.The patients developed redness, blurred vision and itching soon after cataract operations conducted between June 26 and 28. Hospital authorities later found they had contracted a pseudomonas bacterial infection.Doctors treated the patients, but their condition did not improve significantly. They were eventually discharged with loss of vision in one eye.After the outbreak, the hospital’s microbiology department collected samples from the eye operation theatre. Drug samples used during the surgeries were also sent for examination. But the source of the infection was never identified.“No source of infection was found during the investigation in that case that happened in 2023,” said a senior SMS Hospital official.The eye operation theatre was shut for more than 10 days after the infections surfaced. It was reopened only after reports of 60 microbiology samples were received and officials were satisfied the facility was safe for surgery.
