Warning to watch for ‘boils' that wriggle

Press, 22 June 1989, Page 39

Warning to watch for ‘boils' that wriggle

NZPA-AAP Sydney Doctors have been warned to be on the lookout for apparent boils which may in fact be infestations of maggots in the skin. Dr Paul Prociv, writing in the latest “Medical Journal of Australia,” said overseas travellers were at particular risk of infestation from the larvae of exotic flies.

His warning comes after a study recently published in the Journal which found the damaged skin of Brisbane hospital patients often became in-

fested with maggots of local fly species. But Dr Prociv, of the University of Queensland’s parasitology department, said the particular danger of infestation with exotic species was that they could attack healthy skin, leading to serious complications. Also, if the larvae was allowed to hatch, this could lead to new fly species becoming established in Australia. “Australian medical practitioners — and perhaps pharmacists and community nurses as well

— should be very suspicious of boils, particularly in travellers from Africa or tropical America,” he said. Dr Prociv reported the case of a 13-year-old boy who complained of painful multiple “boils” on his back and shoulders after arriving in Brisbane from south-eastern Africa. He had recently worn a sweaty shirt which had become infested with African tumbu-fly eggs, which then hatched and penetrated his skin.