Preamble:
On a sunny holiday, would you choose to go to a foreign country with your family for a different holiday? What happens when you are unfortunately injured while on vacation? What should you do if there is a group of "uninvited guests" in the wound? This seems to be the strange experience of Brianna, a 12-year-old American girl, while traveling in Colombia.
She comes from a family of five in Connecticut, with two parents and one younger sibling. The family used to travel a lot, and Brianna grew up like a father who loved to travel. One summer in 2004, in order to introduce the children to different customs and to cultivate their willingness to be helpful, the family decided to fly to Colombia and do what they could in a local orphanage.
No one expected that this seemingly uneventful journey not only did not bring them happiness, but instead became the beginning of Brianna's nightmare. When she returned to the United States, doctors found 212 maggots in her head wounds! What an unbelievable accident that let's start at the beginning.
What does the "strange phenomenon" in the wound represent?
Brianna and the others had a pleasant start of their vacation in Colombia. The girl's proactive personality is also on display here, and she soon makes new friends in the local orphanage and plays with children of different colors. Brianna's cheerful and straightforward personality also matched the children around her, and everyone loved this little American girl from afar.
However, the day before parting, when the Skerrick family was packing up for the next day, the mother Joey accidentally found her daughter sitting on the stairs with her head covered in pain, as if she was enduring something. Brianna described to her mother a painful, red patch of skin above her right ear, and Joey guessed it might be a sunburn, considering that the children had spent all day playing in the water park during the day.
As a nurse-turned-housewife, she is quite good at this kind of common problem. But just to prevent it, she immediately took her daughter to a nearby local clinic. After the doctor's examination, he also gave a diagnosis of sunshine dermatitis, and after prescribing the right medicine, the mother and daughter returned to their residence.
However, the next morning, when the mother, who thought that the situation would improve, woke up her daughter to prepare for the trip, she found that Brianna's headache had not only not subsided, but was showing signs of deterioration. At this time, the girl not only had a continuous headache, but even had a low-grade fever, which made Joey very panicked. She hurriedly found a flashlight to examine the wound on her daughter's head, and found that the original few small blisters had now turned into more than 20 small holes, some of which seemed to be doing strange movements, as if there was life wriggling in them...... This is no longer a skin problem in the ordinary sense.
Joey had a bad feeling that it might be beyond her judgment, and she knew that she had to leave for the United States as soon as possible to seek medical attention. So, the family had to hurriedly pack their bags and board the return flight early. Brianna also endured the pain of the flight with the support of her mother and brother. However, what awaits them is even greater horror.
The demon crawled out from under the scalp, what kind of creature is it?
The flight of more than 10 hours was nothing short of torment for the ailing Brianna, who had to rely on the support of her mother and brother to keep the pain from being exposed on board. However, the pain and strangeness on his head did not lessen by half, but intensified. As soon as the plane landed, Brianna was immediately rushed to the emergency room of the State Hospital of New York.
Dr. Cavita, the dermatologist on duty, examined her carefully and found that Brianna, although tired, was still conscious and could accurately describe the location and sensation of pain. Kavita realized that the little patient was not mild enough to be a skin problem. As she cut off the hair around the wound, a dense patch of small holes and tissue ulcers were exposed, some of which were still doing a slow spiral.
Sensing that this was not the result of an unusual injury, Cavita removed a living creature with tweezers and immediately sent it for examination, and soon found out the terrible truth about Brianna's infection - a large number of New World spiral fly maggots were parasitic on her head and skin!
This parasite is commonly found in the tropics of Central and South America and feeds on the blood and tissues of living animals. They will continue to burrow into the deeper tissues of the host to obtain food, and in the process release toxins, eventually causing the host to fail and die.
Today, these dangerous creatures have hatched in Brianna's body, and they continue to eat away at the girl's scalp and nutritional tissues, causing severe headaches and other symptoms through toxic effects. The situation is already very critical, and we must find a way to get rid of all these "demons" as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable. The hospital immediately activated the corresponding first aid measures.
In the race against death, how do doctors get rid of the "monsters" in their bodies?
Faced with such a rare case, Dr. Kavita also hesitated, as she had never seen such a situation herself and had no successful experience to draw on. She understands that traditional remedies in the past will not be effective against these large numbers of spirafly maggots, and that they are likely to leave sequelae.
However, in order to save the girl's life, she must open her mind and aggressively try whatever method may work. With the help of her colleagues, Kavita decided to start with some unconventional treatment options. At first, they tried to use the maggot's feeding habits as bait to wrap the bacon meat around Brianna's head, hoping to attract these little monsters to gather and catch them like fish and worms.
But this naïve method did not work, only a few maggots took the bait, and most of them remained dormant under the girl's skin and scalp, unmoved. Subsequently, the medical team changed their minds and decided to try to force them to show up using asphyxiation. They sealed and bandaged Brianna's head wound and surrounding scalp with a thick layer of petroleum jelly oil, forcing the maggots to leave the comfort of the skin tissue due to lack of oxygen and crawl out of the small holes in the wounds.
The insects trapped in the grease were scraped off and the process was repeated, and a large number of spiral fly maggots were finally removed day by day. With continued treatment, Brianna's condition gradually improved, and she was able to regain her luster and vitality. After alternating cleaning and insecticide, the hospital removed 212 live maggots from the 12-year-old girl's head!
That's a hair-raising figure alone, not to mention the hideous sight of long worms writhing and struggling under the tweezers and the camera. Presumably, this was a brutal ordeal for young Brianna, enough to make her unforgettable for the rest of her life. However, the uncertainties in the process are also a huge test for the medical team. Fortunately, with their perseverance and hard work, the girl finally saw the light of day, which has also become a peculiar case record in the history of medicine.
The girl's elegance reappears, what is the unbelievable and unexpected end?
After 5 days of careful care by her parents and doctors, Brianna's condition improved significantly, and she was soon discharged from the hospital and returned home. The family finally breathed a sigh of relief, and this vicious battle against death was finally won. The root cause of this strange incident was also clarified after the fact.
According to her mother's recollection, Brianna had suffered from psoriasis on her scalp before leaving for Colombia, and she often scratched uncontrollably due to long-term itching. This results in small skin breakdowns and bleeding on the scalp. During a subsequent camping trip in the tropical jungle of Colombia, the New World screwfly may have taken advantage of the situation and laid eggs into Brianna through an open wound.
This laid the groundwork for this disaster, and it also led to the outbreak of headaches and various strange symptoms after she returned to the United States. Fortunately, under the careful treatment of the doctor, everything has been settled, and the girl's body and mind are no longer affected. She regained her health and vitality, and her fair little face was flushed and vibrant.
However, even after the baptism of this strange disease, little Brianna did not lose her enthusiasm for life because of the shadow of disaster. Instead, after going through hardship, she found the motivation to keep going, determined to become a good doctor and help more people who are in trouble like herself. Perhaps her brave and tenacious personality and optimistic and resolute will are the most touching and memorable parts of this story.
Everything seems calm at the moment, but who knows what lies beneath our feet?
For friends who have the habit of living in foreign countries and outdoor adventures, this case may serve as a warning. Life can be overstretched, and we often let our guard down during the holidays and want to have a good time. As everyone knows, under the calm surface, there are often invisible crises lurking.
After this incident, we have to admit that no matter where we go, we must always pay attention to personal protection to avoid any skin breakage or bleeding. This is especially true when an open wound is more likely to cause trouble. No one knows what kind of rampant "surprises" lurk in that seemingly peaceful environment. In hindsight, who wouldn't, but it is best to take precautions. It's not just about yourself, it's about being responsible for your family.
There are no surprises in life, and no one can predict what unknown "surprises" are buried under their feet. Only by being vigilant and always maintaining a proactive mindset can we respond to difficult situations and minimize the damage. And when we are really unfortunate enough to be tricked, we must be like Dr. Kavita who does not flinch, fights the "devil" hard, and never gives up easily. Only this spirit of mutual help and perseverance is the best attitude for us to face the unknown world and protect ourselves.