http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/basketball/ncaa/01/16/friday.roundup.ap/
Water may be culprit in Creighton player's infection
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Ordinary tap water might be to blame for an eye infection that has sidelined Creighton basketball player Tyler McKinney and threatens to destroy his cornea.
McKinney said doctors found a tiny organism called acanthamoeba in his right eye. He said the organism apparently got into his eye from his contact lens.
The contacts were stored in a 6-year-old case that had been washed in tap water, McKinney said in an interview with the Omaha World-Herald. He also said doctors told him his lens cleaner might have been contaminated with tap water.
McKinney, a junior from Urbandale, Iowa, had been the starting point guard for No. 24 Creighton. He has spent the past week at University Hospitals in Iowa City, where he received eye drops every 20 to 30 minutes.
The infection has bothered McKinney since November.
"They say it can take up to four more months to heal," McKinney said. "And I might have to have a corneal transplant in that eye."
The acanthamoeba infects the cornea, but there's little risk of the infection spreading to other parts of the body, said Marsha Kubica, an optometrist in Omaha.
"It is one of the reasons that, for cleaning contact lenses, we highly recommend you do not use tap water," Kubica said.
McKinney said he hopes to return to classes at Creighton next week, but it's not known when or if he'll be able to rejoin the team.
His eye remains swollen, painful and sensitive to light, he said. McKinney would need a corneal transplant if his sight is permanently damaged once the infection is gone.
