Twilight fans can dress up as their favorite vampire characters this Halloween with new special effect contact lenses by Coastal Contacts.

“The key costume piece for a vampire is the eyes,” said Jennifer Harvey, communications manager for the company. “People are really having fun with it – blood red eyes, vampire dark purple, or Edward’s amber colored eyes.”

Coastal Contacts released the contacts just last week, along with their new fall lineup. Over 130 styles are available in their Special Effects (SFX) contact lens line. All lenses are FDA approved, and some are available in prescription powers for vision correction.

Note: Even non-prescription contacts require a contact lens fitting and a valid contact lens prescription. This is true even if you already wear a different brand of contact lenses for everyday wear.

If you are interested in Halloween and special effects lenses, first see your eye doctor for a contact lens exam and fitting.

What is the best method for cleaning and disinfecting your contact lenses?

In a recent issue of Contact Lens Spectrum, two prominent researchers addressed this issue in a point-counterpoint debate.

Charlotte Joslin, OD, PhD, epidemiologist and assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, prefers hydrogen peroxide-based contact lens solutions. She says that a recent study found that only a two-step hydrogen peroxide lens care system was effective against a microorganism that can cause a serious eye infection called acanthamoeba keratitis.

In addition to being proven effective against Acanthamoeba organisms, two-step hydrogen peroxide-based (HPB) contact lens care solutions also are the most effective against bacterial and fungal eye infections, according to Dr. Joslin. She also said that there have been two worldwide recalls of (non-hydrogen peroxide) multipurpose contact lens solutions due to outbreaks of amoeba and fungal eye infections associated with the use of these one-step solutions.

Dr. Joslin’s argument was countered by Craig A. Woods, PhD, research manager at the Centre for Contact Lens Research, School of Optometry, University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada).

Dr Woods believes multipurpose contact lens care solutions offer the best combination of safety, cost and effectiveness.

He says that one-step (”no rub”) multipurpose solutions are less expensive and easier to use than HPB disinfecting solutions, and contact lens wearers are more likely to use them properly. He says that there have been “only rare reports” of complications associated with multipurpose solutions, and that they are proven safe and effective.

Dr. Woods also says that hydrogen peroxide-based lens care systems require contacts to be exposed to the hydrogen peroxide solution for a significant amount of time, and that single-step HPB systems may not allow sufficient time for complete disinfection.

He says that while the recent outbreaks of eye infections that caused global recalls of certain multipurpose care solutions were “horrendous for the individuals involved,” he believes these were isolated incidents and not representative of the overall performance of multipurpose disinfecting solutions.

The full point-counterpoint discussion of contact lens care solutions featuring Drs. Joslin and Woods appears in the June 2009 issue of Contact Lens Spectrum.

SynergEyes, Inc. (Carlsbad, Calif.) announced today that its new ClearKone hybrid contact lens for correction of vision problems associated with keratoconus is now available in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The new ClearKone lens is the second SynergEyes hybrid contact lens specifically designed for people with keratoconus — a degenerative disorder in which structural changes in the clear anterior portion of the eye cause the cornea to bulge forward into a cone shape.

Keratoconus frequently causes vision problems that cannot be corrected with conventional eyeglasses or soft contact lenses.

The company launched SynergEyes KC hybrid lenses in 2006, which have proven successful in restoring vision for certain types of keratoconic eyes. The ClearKone lens is designed to fit a much broader spectrum of cone-shaped corneas, according to the company.

Hybrid contact lenses feature a rigid, gas permeable central portion, surrounded by a ring of soft contact lens material. The lenses are designed to provide the sharp vision of gas permeable contact lenses and the all-day comfort and convenience of soft lenses, says Kellie Kaseburg, Vice President of Global Marketing for SynergEyes.

SynergEyes ClearKone and SynergEyes KC are the only FDA-approved hybrid contact lenses specifically designed for keratoconus vision correction in the United States. The company also makes hybrid contacts for the correction of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism in normal eyes.

You can learn more about SynergEyes hybrid contact lenses by visiting the company’s website.

In a new survey, more than half of parents with children ages 8 to 17 who currently need vision correction say their child is interested in wearing contact lenses.

But nearly one-third of those parents have never considered contacts for their child, and another 27 percent haven’t considered it seriously.

The results are somewhat surprising, given other findings of the survey: Parents of kids who currently wear prescription eyeglasses say their child doesn’t like wearing glasses (42 percent), doesn’t always wear them when he should (41 percent) and sometimes feels self-conscious wearing them (40 percent).

The two main reasons parents gave for not being more proactive about contact lens wear for their children: a belief that eyeglasses are easier to clean and care for than contacts (77 percent) and concern about their child’s ability to take proper care of contact lenses (54 percent).

Recent studies, however, demonstrate that most children are capable of caring for soft and silicone hydrogel contact lenses, and wearing contacts may improve a child’s self-perception, especially among girls.

The survey was conducted on behalf of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., the manufacturer of Acuvue brand contact lenses. A full report of the survey can be found on the company’s website.