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Does nystagmus or ocular albinism affect my immunity?

Lots of you are asking us this question and some of you have received notification letters from the government.

We asked for expert clinical advice and received the following statement:

“IN (infantile nystagmus) or OA (ocular albinism) in isolation are not associated with compromised immunity.

“There are some syndromic forms of albinism that are associated with immunocompromise and these patients would already be aware of this and/or have been notified by the UK government that they are in the vulnerable group.”

Whether or not you have nystagmus, please remember to follow scrupulous hygiene practices, including thorough hand washing, whenever inserting, removing or cleaning your contact lenses as we understand that the coronavirus can enter the body through the eyes.

If you wear glasses or sunglasses, please wash these regularly using non abrasive soap – we find washing up liquid does the trick.

If you are registered sight impaired (SI) or severely sight impaired (SSI) you can ask to use priority shopping times and online supermarket delivery slots.

Keep asking us you questions. We will find the answers for you.

Say safe and well