Digital Desk: In a rare medical feat, doctors in Delhi successfully removed three live botflies from the eyes of an American woman. According to reports, a 32-year-old American woman reported to the doctors at Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj (New Delhi) with symptoms of swelling, redness, and soreness in her right upper eyelid over the previous 4-6 weeks, and was successfully identified and treated for live botflies or Myiasis.
Surprisingly, she had even met medical professionals in her native country, the United States, before going to India. Doctors in the United States were unable to determine what was causing the ailment and were only able to treat the patient symptomatically.
The American woman told physicians at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi that she experienced a sense of something moving under her eyelids every now and then over the previous 4-6 weeks - a time that began after her trip to the Amazon rainforests.
During her journey to India, the patient went to Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj, where she was diagnosed and treated by Dr. Mohammad Nadeem, Consultant and Head Emergency Fortis Hospital, ER physician Dr. Dheeraj, and Dr. Narola Yangar (surgery department).
The surgeons at Fortis Hospital extracted three live human botflies measuring about 2 cm in size: one from her right upper eyelid, one from the back of her neck, and one from her right forearm. All of this was done without the need of anaesthetic.
If the Myiasis (the live human botflies) had not been removed, it may have caused significant tissue loss, leading in consequences such as widespread erosion of the nose, face, and orbit. According to physicians, this may have resulted in uncommon meningitis and death.
Myiasis burrows through sensitive membranes and feeds on the structures beneath them. Such cases have previously been recorded from tropical and subtropical regions such as Central and South America and Africa. In India, such cases have usually been recorded from rural locations, notably in youngsters, when the botflies entered through nasal openings or musculoskeletal skin sores.
According to Dr. Mohammad Nadeem, Consultant and Head of Emergency at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj, “It was a very rare case of Myiasis. Foreign bodies can take the healthy skin route and cause severe morbidity or even death. Therefore, these cases need to be evaluated in detail urgently. The US national is a traveller and had a history of visiting the Amazon jungle two months back. Suspecting a foreign body from her history of travelling and noticing movements inside her skin, the diagnosis was done."
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