Maggots in a human wound: what to do and treatment methods

When can maggots appear in a wound?

Maggots appear at the site of pathology for two reasons. In the first option, an unpleasant situation occurs when personal hygiene rules are not followed or there is a long absence of treatment. Larvae are more often observed inside animal wounds.

In human society, the situation is often observed in patients leading an asocial lifestyle. Flies settle on the damaged surface of the skin and lay eggs. After a few days, larvae appear, from which maggots develop. The pathological process takes about 2 weeks. The patient feels constant pain and a characteristic smell of rot from the wound.

The second case is the use of maggots as an old method of treatment: larval therapy. The cleansing procedure is carried out using blowfly larvae. They eat rotting flesh and prevent the process from spreading to neighboring tissues.

The method of alternative medicine is practiced for gangrene of initial and advanced forms. Worms remove necrotic lesions. New epithelial and connective tissue develops at the wound site.

Maggots crawled out of the cracks, and the smell made my head spin: the corpse had been rotting for almost a month in the dormitory

In a locked dormitory room in Ussuriysk, a man’s corpse had been decomposing for almost a month. Neighbors sounded the alarm when maggots fell from the ceiling and the smell of carrion appeared in the corridor. The relatives of the deceased did not communicate, so it was impossible to get into the room. The neighbors took the initiative into their own hands. The correspondent visited the hostel on Gubriya, 17. IA UssurMedia.

The picturesque lake behind the house and the eerie catacombs, which we dare not call an entrance, are a dissonance for us, but for the residents of the hostel at 17 Gubria Street it is a common sight. The premises were filled with clouds of flies and plump maggots crawled out of all the cracks. In addition to the nauseating smell of carrion.

The source of the emergency is a room on the fifth floor. It was from there that the terrible cadaverous stench oozed. And then the larvae came out. The residents of the apartment below suffered the most from the expansion of the worms. It was they who began to fall on their heads with maggots who found a loophole in the ceiling where the chandelier was attached. We had to hang bags from the ceiling so that the nasty guests would fall into them.

The residents' nerves could not stand it. Of course, no one responded to the knock. The only person who could partially shed light on the situation was a neighbor on the floor. Valentina has known the tenant of the smelly apartment for a long time: “Igor used to work as a taxi driver, and then he quit and started drinking. He drank heavily, which may be why he got sick. The doctors didn’t tell us what exactly. They only stated that he was a “chronician.” It happened that I couldn’t get out of bed, and most often I had to move around in a wheelchair. I passed it very quickly, dried up like a cat. Although he was still young, he was about 45 years old. His relatives did not visit him, I periodically went to see how he was doing. On July 24, I knocked on his door, he answered, saying, I’ll open it now, then I heard a roar - he fell. In terms of sound, it’s very close, near the bathroom. That's where they found him..."

Everything is covered in flies. Photo: Evgenia Mikushina, UssurMedia news agency

On August 14, when the stench became unbearable and maggots stubbornly moved into neighboring apartments, residents began to sound the alarm. The police and the Ministry of Emergency Situations were called.

“They brought a “lift”, the local police officer got up and took a photograph through the window. Yes, the corpse lies, as I expected - near the bathroom. Where was the last time I heard a rumble? But you can't get into the apartment. To do this, you need permission from your relatives, but you can’t get through to them by phone. That’s what they told us: we have no right to break into the apartment,” said the neighbor.

Then the residents took the initiative into their own hands. They broke down the door on their own.

“When the door was opened, such a wave came out, the smell of decomposition. I quickly closed my door, my head was already spinning,” shared a neighbor from the apartment opposite.

Despite the fact that the apartment and floor were immediately treated with special agents, and the maggots were collected and burned, a persistent smell of carrion and a cloud of fat flies buzzing in the entrance remained a reminder of the ill-fated events. Resonating with deathly silence. Because the shock of what happened will not go away soon for the residents.

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Are maggots useful?

The positive effects of worms on trophic and purulent infected wounds have been clinically proven.

Blowfly larvae eat decaying tissue. Their digestive system has external development. Once in the wound, they release proteolytic enzymes that help dissolve dead cells. Natural cleansing of necrotizing lesions occurs. The use of maggots can be compared to surgical practice, where pancreatic enzymes are used. Trypsin is placed into the pathological focus, which cleanses the wounds of purulent contents. The main advantage of larval therapy is its rapid and long-term effect.

Scientists are developing an antibiotic that can help with non-drug cases, gangrene. The substance isolated from the processed secretion of green fly larvae was named Seraticin. It has shown effectiveness in the treatment of diseases caused by E. coli, staphylococci, and clostridia.

Another positive effect of maggots on a wound is the suppression of local immunity. The increased protective reaction of the skin causes typical symptoms of inflammation. The patient suffers from swelling and pain. Thanks to mucus, the larvae relieve swelling, reduce hyperemia, and fight pain.

The therapeutic effect of worms is manifested in many difficult situations: bedsores, non-healing trophic ulcers associated with metabolic disorders in diabetes, poor circulation of the lower extremities, atherosclerosis, improper functioning of the nervous system, various types of polyneuropathy. The main use of blowfly maggots on a wound is the fight against dry and wet gangrene. Antibiotics are often powerless against suppurative processes on the extremities. Gangrene can only be treated surgically. Larval therapy will help preserve the limb if used in a timely manner.

The principle of action of maggots on the patient’s body

Dutch scientists have discovered how maggots act on a purulent wound. The experiment required the secretion of larvae and human blood. The liquids were mixed and after careful study it was discovered that the secretion of the worms reduces the amount of immune proteins that aggressively act on bacteria and cause inflammation. The reaction is enhanced by the activation of biologically active substances - bradykinin, histamine. The larvae suppress the protective function of the skin and reduce the inflammatory response.

The peculiarity of the worm secretion is that it does not deteriorate under the influence of high temperatures, maintaining its medicinal properties for 3-5 months.

Non-traditional wound treatment is not dangerous if performed under sterile conditions. Home therapy with maggots can result in consequences.

Sterile larvae are taken for the procedure. Flies for laying eggs are placed in a closed space near animal liver or sausage. The conditions help to obtain clean maggots for a positive result. When the worms appear, they are starved for several days. Then it is placed on the patient’s purulent wound.

The duration of the procedure is determined by the doctor. It depends on the severity of the patient’s condition, the location of the wound, its size, and the advanced stage of the disease. After achieving the result, the injured area is opened and the worms are taken out. The patient should recover.

The cleaning process takes several stages:

Maggots begin to eat foci of necrosis and, at the same time, secrete proteases - enzymes that dissolve dead cells.
Under the influence of Seraticin, pathogenic microorganisms at the source of infection are destroyed.
During the digestion of the larvae, mucus begins to be released, which relieves the manifestations of swelling and hyperemia.
The purulent wound is cleaned, the defect becomes pink, and the unpleasant odor disappears.

At the end of the procedure, the doctor removes the maggots and lubricates the pathology with medicines. After a few weeks, the integrity of the skin is restored.

Prevention, the best way to remove maggots from a dog

Necessarily

Carry out
a preventive examination of the dog . Take her to the doctor for a check-up every six months. This simple measure will help to notice any pathologies in time and not lead to maggots. A competent doctor will also prescribe an adequate anthelmintic. If there is at least one maggot in the house, it is necessary to carry out the most thorough cleaning and disinfection of the room, and it is also necessary to examine the animal. The back of the anus should be completely clean, without any obvious unpleasant odor. Pet your dog daily. This simple measure will help you spot uninvited guests in a timely manner. Remember that veterinary doctors will do everything to restore the pet’s health with maximum losses.

Medical point of view on larval therapy

The opinion of doctors regarding the non-standard method of treatment is ambiguous. Some doctors talk about additional infection of the wound, emphasizing that the procedure is painful and the patient receives new unpleasant sensations.

Adherents of alternative medicine support the old method of treatment with maggots. Important advantages of larval therapy:

Maggots get rid of areas of necrosis and rotting. Worms do not eat healthy tissue. They cleanse the skin of dead epithelial cells.
Blowfly larvae reduce the activity of pathogenic microorganisms inside the wound. They prevent the spread of infection to underlying structures and through the bloodstream.
Maggots stimulate reparative processes in the pathological area of the body. Due to allantoin, a secretion of the larvae, the integrity of the skin is restored.

Not everyone can agree to the procedure. White worms in a wound are an unpleasant sight that evokes negative emotions. Patients must understand that no amount of antimicrobial drugs can do the same as maggot therapy. Hopeless cases are treated with maggots in 2-3 days. The larvae gnaw out necrotic lesions, the skin recovers faster.

If the doctor suggests an unconventional method, it is better to agree.

Treatment: how to remove maggots from a dog

Maggots on a dog simply need to be treated

.
How to remove maggots from a dog is a matter of life and death for the pet. On the Internet you can find many folk recipes for getting rid of this scourge, ranging from tar to simple chlorhexidine. However, you should pay attention to the health of your pet from the inside. Remember the last time deworming was carried out
.
Call a doctor at home? As soon as possible. Maggots in dogs pose a significant danger to the animal.

Maggots can be hatched

First of all, you need to deworm the animal with appropriate medications, which will be recommended by your veterinarian.
After deworming, you should thoroughly disinfect the room, or even better, the entire apartment in which the dog lives.
All traditional methods of treatment should be used only after consultation with a veterinarian.

Although maggots are not contagious to humans

, but they have a fairly good appetite and
can eat an entire dog alive
.
If these maggots were noticed in the tail area, the open wound should be monitored for development of the situation. In the event that there are not many insects,
you can try to cope on your own, and
after treating the wound with chlorgesidine,
begin to destroy the uninvited guests. This is done as follows.

Apply liquid tar. Within a month, this substance will completely destroy maggots. The smell is not pleasant, but for the sake of the health of your beloved pet it is worth being patient with.
When wondering what to do if your dog has maggots, you should remember that the use of bleach is strictly prohibited. This extremely toxic substance can lead to severe poisoning and death of the pet.

Nevertheless, maggots also have benefits; they remove dead areas in the wound. But this is noticeable only when these insects are specially placed in the wound, and the maggots themselves are the brainchild of a scientific laboratory.