ORO-GASTRO.INTESTINAL MYIASIS 



Morbid Anatomy. — We are not acquainted with the details of 

 any post-mortem examination in man, but in dogs the mucosa of 

 the intestine is congested and marked by numerous small haemor- 

 rhages, and it is thought that bacteria may enter the blood through 

 these wounds. 



Symptomatology. — After an incubation period varying from four 

 to twelve days after the ingestion of the eggs, the patient, who has 

 either felt quite well or has suffered from vague abdominal pains 

 and anorexia, begins to feel ill with general malaise, headache, thirst, 

 and f aintness, and in children with rigors, convulsions, and even 

 delirium. Vertigo may be felt, and generally there is some fever, 

 which may last two to ten days or longer. Sometimes the continued 

 fever and the diarrhoea renders the diagnosis of enteric fever prob- 

 able. Pains vary from vague sensations to violent colic. Retch- 

 ing and vomiting may occur, and sometimes haematemesis, while 

 dysenteric-like symptoms may also occur. When the larvae attain 

 maturity, they are sometimes violently evacuated. 



Diagnosis. — The diagnosis can only be made by repeated examina- 

 tion of the motions and the discovery of the larva, the nature of 

 which may be determined in the same way as in nasal myiasis 

 (p. 1621). Care must be taken that the larvae really come from the 

 bowels, and are not contaminations of the faeces. 



Prognosis. — This is good. 



Treatment. — The bowels should be cleared with a dose of castor 

 oil and then an anthelmintic — e.g., Filix mas — should be adminis- 

 tered. Thymol or santonin may also be used. 



Prophylaxis. — All vegetables should be carefully washed and by 

 preference cooked before being eaten, and fresh salads should be 

 avoided. 



Ovaenya. 



This word means maggots, and is applied, according to Wellman, 

 by the natives in Angola to an ahmentary canal myiasis associated 

 with dysenteric symptoms and caused by Fannia desjardensii 

 Macqu . It is easily treated by castor oil. 



Muculo. 



This is the African myiasis, concerning which the editors of the 

 Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene asked for information 

 in 1907, but which so far has not been traced. 



THE EXTERNAL OR DERMAL MYIASES. 



These are the infections of the skin, whether wounded or not by 

 dipterous larvae. There are two varieties of this type — viz., trau- 

 matic dermal myiasis and subcutaneous myiasis. 



