Purpose: To identify the normal conjunctival flora in a rural population in Sierra Leone and compare the normal ocular flora of a developing country with that of the developed world.
Methods: Conjunctival swabs obtained from healthy right eyes of 276 residents of Masungbo, Sierra Leone, were analyzed for growth of microorganisms.
Results: The most commonly isolated organisms from conjunctival swabs of healthy eyes were coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (28.6%), fungus (26.0%), Staphylococcus aureus (19.9%), Gram negatives other than Pseudomonas/Haemophilus (9.8%), Nocardia/Actinomyces (6.5%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.2%).
Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of fungal and bacterial colonization of healthy eyes in a rural population of Sierra Leone. A relationship may exist between resident normal flora and the etiology of ocular infections.