Girl has 80 worms removed from her ear

A four-year-old girl has had 80 worms removed from her ear after an insect attracted to foul smells and dirty conditions entered the orifice.

Radhika Mandloi, from a small village in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, in central India, had started to suffer extreme pain and itching in her left ear a week ago.

At first, her parents thought she was over reacting, reports Mirror.

But when she started crying continuously they eventually took her to MY Hospital in Indore on October 8.

Dr Raj Kumar Mundra, head of the ear, nose and throat department at the hospital, gave her a thorough examination and was shocked to find an insect called Genus Chrysomya inside her ear, which had laid nearly 80 eggs.


Dr Mundra 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.

‘We’ve had previous cases where they’ve had two or three eggs but this is the first time we’ve seen anyone with such a huge amount.’

The girl had to endure two sittings to remove the 80 worms, each lasting nearly 90 minutes.

Dr Mundra added: ‘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. In the first sitting we removed around 70 worms, and in the second sitting we removed the final ten.

‘Our last examination found nothing remaining so we believe she is clear now. But her bone and skin has been partially damaged by the worms. I believe by the amount of worms in her ears she had been suffering for longer than a week.

‘It’s evident she problem had been growing for a long time but her parents had been negligent. We’ll look into further treatment in time.’

Radhika is still at the hospital and will be kept under close observation for the next seven days.
Dr Mundra said that several MRI scans ensured the worms had not entered the brain but if she had been left another week the condition could have been deadly.

He said: ‘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.’ Dr Mundra warned that any ear infection should not be ignored.

He added: ‘Any discharge of fluid in the ear should not be ignored as it could attract larva, which reproduces quickly.

‘The ears and nose are close to the brain and need proper hygiene. It’s evident this family live in unhygienic conditions which has seen the young girl suffer as a consequence. It’s a very sad state of affairs.’