R.I.P Elvis.
This here is a little fellow that you may or may not be luckily enough to encounter a BOT-FLY larvae. The eggs of this particular fly (Dermatuatobia hominis)are laid on a mosquito. The mosquito then goes on to do all the dirty work by actually getting this into you skin. From personal experience it starts off looking like a spot. A little inflamed but over time it gets bigger and eventually resembles a boil or abscess. Patients with a bot-fly often talk of feeling it move around under the skin. One of my clients in Belize had just that feeling, eventually becoming quiet attached to the little grub and naming it ELVIS. We would get daily reports as to the movement of Elvis and his favourite time of day (usually morning). Our nurse on this expedition (Sam), tried a couple of times to remove it by dripping hot wax over the breather hole, this would suffocate the parasite and after an hour or so we’d peel back the wax and try to grab the breathing tube with tweezers. Sadly he was too fast or too small and we never managed to get him that way, we’d all stand round in anticipation as Friday night would be ‘bot-fly night’. Roll up, roll up and see the live maggot pulled out of a living person.. Since writing this I’ve seen and read about numerous methods, one of the most effective seems to be Vaseline and tape, a similar method to the wax in that you are trying to asphyxiate the thing. What happened to Elvis? Well after having it slowly growing for almost a month our patient commented that she had not felt him move for a couple of days, instinctivly our client gave the boil a squeeze, and out he popped Elvis, dead! No wax, chewing tobacco, Vaseline or anything, just dead. The thing was in her armpit and the joke for the rest of the expedition was that it was asphyxiated by her severe B.O!
Tags: jungles, parasites, wilderness first aid
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