PREVALENCE OF FUNGAL KERATITIS IN RURAL POPULATION -AN INDIAN BASED PROSPECTIVE; RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Introduction: Fungal keratitis is a major eye disease leading to blindness in South Asia. Many authors has reported in South India, it was found that 44% of all central corneal ulcers are caused by fungi. This high prevalence of fungal pathogens in South India is significantly greater than that found in similar studies in Nepal (17%), Bangladesh (36%), Ghana (37.6%), and south Florida (35%). In Indian perspectives the incidence of fungal keratitis is being increased during the past decade, due to Intemperate and retrogressive climatic changes. The present study aims to find out the incidence of fungal keratitis in rural population.