Doctors at a Hyderabad hospital removed nearly 150 maggots (larvae of flies) from the nose of a woman, who had developed mucormycosis after getting infected with coronavirus. Doctors at Century Hospital performed the procedure on a 50-year-old patient, who is a homemaker from Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. Skull base surgeon Dr Janakiram led a team of experts to operate on the woman, who was brought to the hospital in a state of delirium.
The patient was infected with coronavirus about six months ago which led to mucormycosis, also known as black fungus. With the infection spreading to her brain, the patient's right eye was removed. Her kidney functioning got impacted and she was diabetic. At Century Hospital, the team of doctors discovered the presence of a bunch of larvae of houseflies, also known as maggots inside her nose. Because of localised loss of sensation, she neither realised the condition nor was able to complain about it, doctors said.
"Examination of the patient revealed the presence of maggots just below the brain; and considering her high blood sugar level and weak kidney functioning, the patient's condition had to be stabilised. While a team of general physicians and nephrologists were striving to stabilise her health condition, we simultaneously initiated the process of cleaning the maggots," said Janakiram.
"Once her condition started improving, we realised her facial bones closer to the brain were completely infected. However, efforts put in by the team of experts over a few days gave a second lease of life to the patient," he added. The doctors said that due to mucormycosis, the patient did not feel the sensation of the maggots. The flies had entered her nose and laid eggs inside. Once the eggs were hatched, they became larvae, also called maggots. They could have entered the brain and caused meningitis, explained the doctors.