Medical Must-See: A ‘boring’ parasitic scalp infection
A screwworm infection near the brain could have been fatal for this teenager.
A chronic skin condition plus a rare parasitic fly left a US teen’s scalp teeming with “boring” worm larvae.
The 15-year-old developed an intense focal occipital headache a day after a three-week hiking trip in Peru.
Upon inspection, doctors found a 4.5mm ulcer on the girl’s scalp, with undulating movement at the ulcer’s base.
When they applied bacitracin ointment, some 45 cream-coloured larvae crawled out.
