At Home: Medicinal Maggots
Maggots: the vultures of the invertebrate world, and then some. These fly larvae?which can make even the most sanguine of us shudder?are seen as disgusting pests. And yet they recently saved the leg of a 59-year-old Toronto resident.
As the Toronto Sun reports, Waclaw Tyszkiewicz had been hospitalized with a ?raging, flesh-killing infection in his right foot, caused after he attempted to remove a piece of calloused skin with a blade.?
Because Tyszkiewicz is diabetic, his body was unable to fight the infection successfully. The hospital had attempted treatments like ?medical disinfectants, gels, minor surgery,? but ?the infection was spreading.? Doctors were considering amputation in order to remove the ?swollen, bloody and blackened mess of dying flesh? before the infection could consume his body.
First, though, specialists decided to try one last option: using a blow fly maggot treatment to allow the larvae to ?eat the dead flesh.? The controversial biotherapy treatment required special government clearance and had to be carefully monitored, but it worked: the maggots ?[saved] his leg from being amputated.?
A grateful Tyszkiewicz is now ?[thinking] positively about (maggots),? he told reporters.
Around the World: Baby Baggage
No liquids. No aerosols. Size limits. Airline baggage regulations have become increasingly burdensome, with scanners taking issue with even harmless water bottles. But maybe there’s a reason; after all, recently a couple attempted to sneak their baby through security, carefully stowed in their carry-on bag.
As the Daily Mail reports, the couple, travelling from Egypt to the United Arab Emirates with their five-month-old baby, had been ?held at immigration as [the] child did not have a visa.? Wishing to avoid the weekend delay, the couple ?decided to make a run for it,? put the baby into their luggage, and headed toward security.
Security staff, however, quickly spotted the outline of the baby when its bag went through the x-ray scanners. Police told reporters that ?When customs officials saw the baby inside the bag at the X-ray scanner, they were stunned.?
Immigration woes aside, the couple has now been ?arrested and charged with endangering the baby’s life,? since the child ?could have been exposed to the dangers of radiation.?