Brit’s ‘insect bite’ turns out to be FLESH-EATING MAGGOTS
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Woman visited AE with ‘insect bite’ and doctors sent her away
- Returned the next day when pain became worse
- She had become host to the tumbu fly which lays its eggs on damp clothing in the Tropics and once hatched feasts on human flesh
Claudia Tanner For Mailonline
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A British woman returned from the Ivory Coast to find flesh-eating maggots living – and wriggling – in her arm.
The 46-year-old, who is not named, returned to the UK and promptly visited AE where doctors dismissed the sore as an infected – but fairly harmless – insect bite and she was sent away with antibiotics.
However, when she returned to AE the next day in more pain, it became apparent she did not have an ordinary skin infection.
Medics spotted something ‘wiggling’ within the ulcer, according to The New England Journal of Medicine which has reported the case. They discovered several fly larvae had burrowed into her skin.
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The tumbu fly is found across the tropics and can cause significant pain and irritation when the larvae feed on a host
Squeezing the sore revealed the woman was infested with the larvae of the tumbu fly, a species found in the tropics of Africa, which gorge on human flesh.
The female tumbu fly lays its eggs on damp clothing or towels.
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If damp fabrics come into contact with human skin, then the eggs penetrate the skin.
After two or three days, the larvae hatch beneath the skin.
Once born, the larvae need air to breathe so they eat their way out of their host. This can cause significant pain and irritation to the surrounding tissue.
Initially, medics tried to squeeze the flies from the woman’s skin but the stubborn creatures refused to budge.
Dr John Park, who treated her, said the bugs had to be removed surgically.
After two or three days, the larvae hatch beneath the skin. Because they need air to breath, the bugs eat their way out of their host
The woman was given a local anaesthetic during the procedure.
In some cases, doctors will cover the sores with paraffin wax for the procedure, because this has been shown to help drive the larvae up to the surface of the skin.
After treatment, the woman was given antibiotics and she fully recovered.
Had the larvae been left in, they would have grown, forced their way out of her skin, and dropped to the floor to hatch as flies.
Doctors advise that to prevent catching the larvae, clothes should be tumble-dried or, if they are left to dry outside, ironed, as the heat kills the eggs.
WHAT IS THE TUMBU FLY AND HOW DO HUMANS HOST ITS LARVAE?
The tumbu fly is found across the tropics and can cause a condition called myiasis, when the larvae feed on a host.
The female tumbu fly lays its eggs on damp clothing or towels. If damp fabrics come into contact with human skin, the eggs penetrate the skin.
To prevent catching the larvae, clothes should be tumble-dried or, if they are left to dry outside, ironed, as the heat kills the eggs.
After two or three days, the larvae hatch beneath the skin.
Once born, the larvae need air to breathe so they eat their way out of their host.
This can cause significant pain and irritation to the surrounding tissue.
It is well-documented that people become infested – Youtube is full of cilps – with tumbu maggots while abroad and many try to remove them by squeezing.
But this can be dangerous as the maggot can split in half and rot underneath the skin triggering an infection
Instead, the best way to get rid of the maggots is to cover the wound with Vaseline. This cuts off the maggot’s air supply causes it to surface.
Tumbu flies typically penetrate humans on the backs of arms or around the waist, lower back or buttock.
Once they’ve found a host, it takes eight to 12 days for the larvae to emerge from the skin.
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