**6. Prevention of infectious keratitis**

Due to the magnitude of the problem, limited access to treatment, inadequate well-trained medical personnel, costs of treatments, and the often poor visual outcomes, prevention may be one of the feasible public health strategies available [5, 34]. Avoiding or correcting predisposing factors may reduce the risk of keratitis [44]. Patients with risk factors for keratitis should be educated about their risk, made familiar with the signs and symptoms of keratitis, and informed that they have to consult an ophthalmologist promptly if they encounter such warning signs or symptoms to minimize permanent visual loss [44, 94]. In the developed countries, infectious keratitis is usually associated with contact lens wear, but in developing countries, it is commonly caused by trauma during agricultural work [8–10, 13]. Interestingly, data from the recent trial reported that "Up to 50% of contact lens wearer are not compliant with hand washing procedures" [95]. Poor hand hygiene is a risk factor of developing infectious keratitis in contact lens wearers [95]. Developing effective prevention strategy that is circulated to contact lens users is crucial to reduce the incidence of infectious keratitis [40]. Although the use of protective eyewear in industrial and agricultural work can prevent ocular injury, the actual utilization of such protective eyewear has been found to be consistently low, even in industrialized countries with robust workplace safety regulations [34]. The protective eyewear during these works should be compelled. The outcome of corneal injury with secondary infection can be improved by early diagnosis and prompt treatment with appropriate antibiotics at the primary level of eye care [24]. Because most cases of infectious keratitis are the result of corneal trauma, the use of 0.5–1% chloramphenicol eye ointment three times per day for 3 successive days for superficial corneal trauma in primary care is recommended by WHO to prevent the development of infectious keratitis [24].
