Doctors remove 150 bugs from his nose

A hundred larvae and insects were removed from a man’s nose.

THE ESSENTIAL

In February, a man went to the hospital because his face had swollen and his nose kept bleeding.
The doctor discovered 150 larvae and insects inside his nasal cavity.
The larvae could have entered the nasal cavity due to the patient’s poor hygiene during his fishing trips.

You must wash your hands when you return from a walk in nature or after touching an animal. A Florida resident now applies this hygiene instruction to the letter after he found himself with 150 insects in his nose due to his bad practices during his fishing trips.

150 insects in his nasal cavity

In early February, after feeling tired and woozy since last October, the man, whose identity has not been revealed, began to feel his face burning.

“Within a few hours my face started to swell, my lips swelled, I could barely speak”explains the patient in a report from the First Coast News channel taken up by the Huffpost. “I couldn’t even get up to go to the bathroom without my nose bleeding.”

The American then went to the hospital where he was treated by ENT doctor Dr David Carlson. The specialist tried to understand the origin of the disorder using a camera inserted into the nose. He then discovered to his amazement the presence of numerous insects and larvae in the nasal cavity. Some were as big as the tip of a little finger. And beyond the disgusting aspect of the situation, the insects presented a real danger for the patient: they feed on the tissues of the sinuses and nose.

“I knew he was in big trouble, there was erosion happening near the base of his skull, right near his eye and his brain.”, specifies Dr. Carlson to the journalist. The medical professional attempted to remove the intruders using suction, but they were too large. It was therefore necessary to remove them one by one with pliers. In total there were 150.

“They were right against the base of his skull, right under the brain, if they had gotten through it could have killed him.”, adds the doctor. The insects have since been sent to an epidemiologist to determine their species.

Larvae in the nose: bad fishing habits to blame?

The patient who will be followed several times during the year should make a complete recovery. However, there remains a question: how did the insects settle in his nose?

One of the hypotheses is that the larvae reached the nasal cavity of this fishing enthusiast thanks to his bad habits during his favorite activity and especially handling fish. “I used to rinse my hands in the river, now I use a cleanser to do a better job and I don’t touch my nose or my hand anymore”assures the patient to the American media.

Furthermore, the little animals surely took advantage of his weakened immune system since an operation for neuroblastoma carried out a few years earlier. The removal of the cancerous tumor had been done via his nose.

Although this case is very rare, Dr. Carlson took advantage of this mishap to remind the general public, particularly people immunodeficient, the importance of hygiene measures after being outside or in a dirty environment.