At least flies dont come out
At least flies dont come out
Tuesday June 24, 12:35 PM
'Fly boy' continues to suffer as doctors struggle
By Indo-Asian News Service
Kolkata, June 24 (IANS) A 13-year-old boy whose bizarre ailment has a
fly-like insect emerging out of him is far from being cured as doctors
struggle to detect the source of the parasite.
The fully-grown flies, as doctors described the parasites, have been
emerging out of Chandan Goswami's genitals and flying off for more than two
weeks now.
Chandan, now receiving treatment at a state-run hospital in West Bengal's
Burdwan district, is said to be suffering from a condition called myiasis, a
disease seen mostly in Central and Latin America.
In myiasis, the larvae of a type of fly invade a human or animal body, dead
or alive. The deposited eggs can then enter the body through pores, the
mucous membrane or even the mouth. The hatched larvae then emerge out the
host's skin and pupate.
However, in Chandan's case, whole flies complete with wings are emerging out
of his body and flying off.
"This is very, very rare. We are trying to find out how the fly entered the
boy's body," says Sudhansu Pan, the surgeon attending Chandan.
Doctors carried out a cystoscopy to clear the boy's urinary tract, but the
treatment has failed because two more flies emerged out of his penis on
Monday.
Doctors admitted they have not been able to identify where the parasite
deposit lay inside Chandan's body.
Health authorities have formed a medical board of seven doctors to treat
Chandan. Doctors were also "coordinating" with physicians abroad who have
experience in dealing with myiasis.
In myiasis, the maggots usually are found underneath the skin and are
removed by minor surgery. But whole flies emerging out of a human body is
rare, doctors said.
Chandan told doctors he first felt pain in his abdomen almost a month ago.
And then he saw the flies intermittently coming out of his penis.
He told his parents, but they didn't initially believe him. Earlier this
month, they saw the strange occurrence and took their son to Burdwan
hospital, where doctors too were stunned to see the rare case.