Woman pees on larvae for 3 months until she finds bladder infestation

It's pretty normal to meet people who don't miss an opportunity to go to the doctor and get a full checkup - and that's very good. But there is always the flip side: those who run away from an office.

It may sound bizarre - and it really is - but a 50-year-old woman from North Carolina spent three months peeing with larvae before calling for medical help.

Those responsible for the case reported that the patient complained of pain while urinating and that as soon as her test result was ready they could see 0.5 cm long larvae - visible to the naked eye!

Tests revealed that the larvae were not worms, but they belonged to the insect species Diptera, which includes flies and mosquitoes.

The woman was diagnosed with myiasis, which is a disease generated by infestation of fly larvae in an animal tissue. In her case, the insect had deposited eggs in the urinary tract and she may have caught the disease by drinking contaminated water.

This condition is more common in countries still developing and with problems in basic sanitation networks. The woman explained to doctors that she had moved from Mexico, where the disease is common, and that to make her condition worse, she suffered from diabetes, which left her immune system compromised.

The disease and treatment

As we have already explained, myiasis involves infestation through fly larvae. It can be primary - when eggs are laid on healthy skin and larvae invade the tissues, causing berne - or secondary - when the fly lays eggs in already open wounds, causing problems like the puss.

In the first case, the symptoms involve reddish nodular lesions with a central orifice, through which a yellowish discharge comes out. The affected person may feel pains similar to those of a sting and itching.

The second case is more severe and the larvae will feed on living tissue and can eat skin, muscles and tendons, leaving only bones.

Treatment of myiasis consists of manually removing the larvae and / or administering medicines that kill the invader.