A Portuguese man was left with fly eggs in his ear canal and maggots causing ear discomfort.

(Flip journal)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] "A worm ran into the ear while sleeping" sounds like a nightmare, and a 64-year-old man in Portugal may feel it very much; this man felt occasional slight pain in his ear a few days ago and sought medical attention It turned out that a lump of maggots was the cause. Fortunately, the man was alert and sought medical treatment in time, and no subsequent injury or disease was caused.

Based on reports from the New England Journal of Medicine and foreign media, the 64-year-old Portuguese case had pain, itching, and bleeding in his left ear at the end of November, and he went to the hospital in Matosinhos, Portugal 5 days after the onset of symptoms. seek medical advice.

The medical team checked the patient and found that his ear canal was blocked by a large number of live maggots. These rice-like worms even pierced part of the patient's eardrum, which looked quite scary.

Please read on...

This case was written and published in a journal by the attending physician Catarina Rato; she wrote that the maggots were cylindrical, segmented, and beige in color, and they should be New World screwworms. screw fly) maggots.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the New World screwworm is mainly distributed in Central and South America, and survives by parasitizing warm-blooded animals including humans; females will lay eggs on soft tissues such as animal wounds, noses, navels, and anus , the number of eggs can be as high as 400. After hatching, the larvae will drill into the host's body, which may cause infection of the host, and the wound infected by bacteria may be pus, corrupt or gangrene, which will attract more females to lay eggs, so The condition is called "myiasis" and can be fatal.

Fortunately, the patient in this case went to the doctor in time, and the maggots did not cause the wound to rot. The doctor used antibiotic ear drops, oral antibiotics and boric acid solution to help the patient kill the worms, and then took out the worms one by one. After 7 days, there were no maggots in the patient's ears. surgery.

A Portuguese man was left with fly eggs in his ear canal and maggots causing ear discomfort.

(Flip journal)