80 worms removed from young girl's ear

A four-year-old girl had 80 worms living in her ear.

Radhika Mandloi, from Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, in central India, had the parasite hooked out by doctors at My Hospital in Indore on October 8 after they invaded her body and laid eggs.

Dr Mundra, who is the head of the Ear, Nose and Throat department at the hospital, said: "I was very shocked to see so many eggs. This type of bug is attracted to foul smells and extremely unhygienic conditions. And as the ears and nose are areas most vulnerable and open they enter and lay eggs."

The youngster sat still for 90 minutes while doctors carefully pulled out the wriggly bugs called Genus Chrysomya.

Dr Mundra explained: "The worms can cause severe damage to the ear bone if there is an excessive movement. So the treatment needed special attention and had to be done very carefully. We first had to kill the worms so they could not move while we were removing them."

Radhika has also had several MRI scans to ensure no worms had entered her brain, which could have proved fatal.

Dr Mundra told the Asian press: "Fortunately, no worms were found in the brain but if she had been left untreated for another week, the worms could have entered the brain and this could have been life threatening. There is a paper-thin bone between the brain and the ears which the worms can easily enter. These worms could easily eat a human brain if they get inside."

Radhika is currently under doctors' supervision at hospital.

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