Causes of blindness among students in blind school institutions in a developing country
British Journal of Ophthalmology, Volume 60, No. 9, Year 1976
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Out of 270 students in 17 blind school institutions in Malawi 73 per cent were blind before the age of three. The most common cause for the blindness was ocular infection (75.2 per cent). Measles, as a single cause, was responsible for 43.7 per cent of the cases and smallpox for 5.2 per cent. Bacterial infections were incriminated in 26.3 per cent of thecases. Most of these had received traditional medicine during the acute phase of the disease. Hereditary factors as causes of blindness were found in 7.8 per cent of the cases. These included congenital cataracts (2.6 per cent), optic atrophy of unknown origin (3 o per cent), microphthalmos (i 5 per cent), and macular degeneration (07 per cent). Careful ophthalmological examination showed that in 37 cases an intervention could be attempted in order to improve the vision. In the i i most favourable cases this was attempted, with the result that nine cases gained a useful vision of 4/60 to 6/i8 in the better eye. We thank Professor I. C. Michaelson, Head of the Jerusalem Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, for his support and advice.