Health and You

The effect of this disease in our body relies on the location of larvae. The larvae are found to cause infection in living or dead tissues present in various areas of the body. The sites of infection include eyes, skin, ears, intestinal tracts and also urinary tracts. They are capable of attacking skin that is unbroken, lesions and wounds that are left open. Eggs or larvae can reach the stomach through swallowing them along with food particles. They cause intestinal and gastric myiasis if they occur in intestines and stomach respectively.

Forms of myiasis
Myiasis can occur in different forms. The various forms and symptoms of myiasis are mentioned below.

The myiasis infection in the ear is called as aural myiasis. The symptoms are buzzing noises and feeling of crawling. In some cases of aural myiasis smelly discharge may occur. In severe cases, the presence of larvae in the middle ear may travel to the brain. The form called as cutaneous myiasis is often very painful and exist something like sores or ulcers. The development of this type of myiasis is very slow but hey exists for long period of time.

The next type is the opthalmomyiasis affecting the eye. This is one of the common forms of myiasis and leads to eye irritation. Pain and edema are often accompanied. Myiasis affecting the nose is called as nasal myiasis. The disease causes blockage in the nasal passages. Edema, irritation and fever can occur.

The last form is the not a specific myiasis type and often occurs in hospital atmosphere. This is called as the nosocomial myiasis. The wounds that are left open in patients are infested by the flies in hospitals.

What are the preventive methods for the disease?
The major preventive measure is to take steps for eliminating the adult flies that cause myiasis. This measure is called as vector control. These flies could be eradicated by the use of insecticides. The compounds employed for this purpose are organochlorine and Organophosphorus and are usually sprayed.

Sterile Insect Technique is another preventive method that is used. This method involves the introduction of particular number of male flies that are reared sterilized by artificial means. They fight males that are wild bred for females so as to copulate. This leads the females to lay eggs that are unfertilized and cannot reach the stage of larva. Also, maintaining an environment that does not suit the growth of flies proves to be handy. A good example for this is shaving the wool in sheep in between the rear legs and tail region because these serves as good atmosphere for larvae.

Treatment
Ivermectin present in boluses can be released slowly in livestock to treat the disease. This gives protection against larvae for a prolonged time period. Also the sheep can be drenched in insecticide to check the growth of larvae.

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