Posted on 02/07/2013 2:12:40 PM PST by BenLurkin
Of all the maladies I hope never to be afflicted with, and there are many of those, any sickness with the term "flesh-eating" in its name is way, way at the tippy-top of my list. The very thought makes my skin crawl. (Ha! No, really.) Gaaah! After last summer's streak of flesh-eating bacteria cases, I'd already pretty much resolved to never ever swim in a lake ever again. But after hearing about the flesh-eating parasites a young Australian couple recently became infected with on a "dream trip" to the Amazon, I'm pretty much resolved to -- well, I've never been to the Amazon, and I sure as hell ain't making any plans now.
Seriously, what happened to Ally Vagg and Bryan Williams is so incredibly horrifying, I really have to warn anyone without a supremely strong stomach to stop reading now. After the jump, things get ugly. Fast.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestir.cafemom.com ...
No photos?
Thankfully. Reminds me of the most horribly creature created. The Surinam Toad.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Surinam_toad_%28DFdB%29.jpg
That's an image of the adult Botfly.
I'm not going to post images of the larvae, because ...
Well ...
I'm just not.
Web-search ... you'll find 'em.
They're nasty.
I’ve seen pictures similar to what this couple got, and they are horrifying to look at and recommend that nobody take a look, unless you want to be creeper out for days.
bkmk
Looks kind of cute, really.
Myself, I’d prefer “flesh-eating” to “hemorhagic”.
Moral of the story? Don’t take vacations in 3rd World cesspools.
Doesn’t have to be 3rd world. We lost a cousin to this stuff. Took her hands and lower half of her legs before they stopped it, but ultimately took her life due to long term damage. And she never left the states. Think she picked it up in a hospital in the ER for a minor problem.
Don’t know what that means.
They showed me some scars they had, and explained this fly and it's nasty little habit. I started wearing a hat and constantly swiping my hands over my exposed arms and neck.....
I think this is different than the flesh-eating bacteria we’ve heard about. The larvae will feed on one’s skin until it gets big enough to emerge, but I don’t think it kills people or causes amputation of limbs. It is very high on the grossness scale, though.
How about DDT?
Botflies.
They are more commonly dealt with on animals. It may cause people to be grossed out but you do need a vet (or doctor) to get in there and remove them. Safest thing to do.
Your cousin got flesh-eating bacteria? Here in the US? How terrible. A friend was a missionary in Truk; he said the tropics are very hard on the body.
The guys said the killed them by smearing Vaseline over the wound opening to cut off the oxygen and they grab the little bugger when he would poke his head up for a breath.
I believe that we will retire right here in New England. 3 feet of snow? That’s nothing!
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