Traumatic myiasis, the invasion of live tissues by fly larvae, is a commonly observed phenomenon in animals like sheep and cattle, but is also witnessed sometimes among humans. It is a parasitic infestation in which the dipteran larvae invade the neglected open wounds and foul smelling body apertures of vertebrate animals thereby using the living or necrotic tissue of their host as a nutritional source. A case of severe human traumatic myiasis is reported from India in the scalp wound of a 3-year-old female patient. The causative larvae were identified as the third instars of Old World Screwworm Fly- Chrysomya bezziana (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The myiasis in the present case was a complication of an open neglected wound. Ignorance played a key role in non-treatment of the patient for a long period of time. The authors emphasize the necessity to raise awareness among the general public about the problem.
Wound myiasis

In September 1998, a case of nosocomial cutaneous myiasis caused by Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) in a 77-year-old male was found. The patient had been receiving partial maxillectomy due to the presence of malignant tumor on premaxilla. This is the first verified case involving Lucilia sericata in Taegu, Korea. In the present paper, the salient morphological features of the third instar larvae involved have been studied.
Aged ; Animals ; Cross Infection/*parasitology ; Diptera/ultrastructure ; Face ; Human ; Larva/ultrastructure ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Myiasis/*parasitology ; Skin Diseases, Parasitic/*parasitology ; Surgical Wound Infection/*parasitology