Aural Myiasis in a Two-Year Old Child

Figure

a) Removed maggot; b) maggot in the ear canal

A two-year-old patient presented to our department with a several-day history of increasing pain in the right ear. After initiation of antimicrobial therapy, the patient showed initially no improvement. In addition, there was hemorrhagic otorrhea for 24 hours. On examination, larvae were found in the right ear canal. However, it was not possible to clean all parts of the ear canal due to pain and limited patient adherence; therefore, treatment with alcohol-based ear drops was initiated, but did not result in any improvement. The ear canal was then cleaned under general anesthesia. Seven living fly maggots were removed. The ear canal was found to be hemorrhagic and macerated; the eardrum was intact with inflammatory changes. It healed completely with conservative treatment. The maggots were sent to the Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at Bonn University Hospital; however, further differentiation of the larvae was not possible. In the absence of a conspicuous travel or social history, it is assumed that the maggots were accidentally introduced into the ear canal while playing in contaminated water.

Dr. med. Wieland Behr, PD Dr. med. Katrin Reimann, Prof. Dr. med. Boris A. Stuck, Klinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenheilkunde,
Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie Universitätsklinikum Marburg, Philipps-Universität Marburg, [e-mail]

Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Translated from the original German by Ralf Thoene, M.D.

Cite this as: Behr W, Reimann K, Stuck BA: Aural myiasis in a two-year old child. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2024; 121: 372b. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.m2023.0236