What is the myiasis?

Myiasis is the infection of a fly larva (maggot) in human tissue. This occurs in tropical and subtropical areas. Myiasis is rarely acquired in the United States; people typically get the infection when they travel to tropical areas in Africa and South America.

What is the cause of myiasis?

Myiasis is infection with a fly larva, usually occurring in tropical and subtropical areas. There are several ways for flies to transmit their larvae to people. Some flies deposit their eggs on or near a wound or sore, the larvae that hatch burrow into the skin.

What is the treatment for myiasis?

Wound myiasis requires debridement with irrigation to eliminate the larvae from the wound or surgical removal. Application of chloroform, chloroform in light vegetable oil, or ether, with removal of the larvae under local anesthesia, has been advocated for wound myiasis.

What does myiasis look like?

At first, people have a small red bump that may resemble a common insect bite or the beginning of a pimple (furuncle). Later, the bump enlarges, and a small opening may be visible at the center. The opening may drain clear, yellowish fluid, and sometimes a small portion of the end of the larva is visible.

What are types of myiasis?

Myiasis is the infestation of human tissue by fly larvae. Forms of infestation include wound myiasis, furuncular myiasis, plaque myiasis, creeping dermal myiasis, and body cavity myiasis. Wound myiasis occurs when flies lay their eggs in an open wound.

Is myiasis common in India?

Nasal myiasis is rare in the world, but India being a tropical country the disease is very common and extremely demoralising for the patients.

Can myiasis spread?

Myiasis occurs when fly eggs hatch on a person and the larvae grow in their body. People cannot spread myiasis to other humans. If you have myiasis, there is no need to worry that you'll cause other people in your household to develop a parasitic infection.

Is myiasis serious?

Wound myiasis occurs when fly larvae infest open wounds. It has been a serious complication of war wounds in tropical areas, and is sometimes seen in neglected wounds in most parts of the world.

Is myiasis a disease?

Myiasis is the infection of a fly larva (maggot) in human tissue. This occurs in tropical and subtropical areas. Myiasis is rarely acquired in the United States; people typically get the infection when they travel to tropical areas in Africa and South America.

Can myiasis go away?

Intestinal myiasis may go away on its own or your doctor may prescribe anti-parasitic medicine. After the removal of any type of fly larvae, your doctor will tell you how to keep the wound clean. Proper cleaning will prevent infection and recurrence of the myiasis.

Can you recover from myiasis?

Recovery for myiasis depends on where the infection occurred. However, in most cases, it takes anywhere between a month or two at the most for people to recover from the infection.

Can myiasis cause death?

Infestations with C. hominovorax, which causes wound myiasis, can be more serious, as this species may travel through living tissue in the body and not stay subdermal like most of the other species of flies that cause myiasis. Death has occurred with severe infestations of C. hominovorax.

Can myiasis cause blindness?

In uncommon circumstances, the maggots may penetrate into the eyeball itself (internal ophthalmomyiasis) or may involve the orbit (orbital myiasis), which may result in serious damage and often lead to severe loss of vision, blindness, or even loss of the eye, mainly in cases of larvae with burrowing habits that can …