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Maggots eat up resistant bacteria

Creepy crawlies are the latest weapon in the anti-MRSA arsenal.

The drug-resistant bug MRSA has a new adversary — the maggot. Researchers in Manchester, UK, have just won a grant to compare maggots with other more hi-tech treatments for people with diabetes who suffer from infected feet.

Read the story here

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on May 4, 2007 06:27 PM |

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Fascinating story. I hope the trial will include some measure of the psychological effects of the various treatments and possibly, some mitigation in terms of counselling or therapy in case the treatment causes mental distress. Having both MRSA and diabetes is distressing in its own right, and the addition of "larval therapy" might be quite traumatic to some patients.

Posted by: Susan Foster | May 9, 2007 03:59 PM

Having had a MRSA infection last year that took a month to clear up to the point where I could actually start doing normal activities again I would have jumped at the chance to try this - even though the thought of maggots anywhere around me would normally make me gag. I do know that there are quite a few clinics here in the US that use maggots for the treatment of diabetic wounds and it does help so I hope this is approved for trial in the UK soon.

Posted by: Sherry Morse | May 9, 2007 04:11 PM

This is a good story ,and I read that this mechanism was used during the second world war.In Egypt we isolate antibiotic from the wings of flies and this antibiotic was effective against S. aureus with a MIC 5ug per ml.this antibiotic has aromatic structure and extracted as yellow powder.the antibiotic was applied to different species of bacteria and recorded promise results

Posted by: Mostafa Hassan | May 9, 2007 06:54 PM

I live in the tropics and I am treating an animal with an infected foot. This morning when changing the dressing I found the old dressing full of maggots - I know they would clean out the wound. I have cleaned and redressed the wound. What do I do when I change the dressing next time?? What happens after the maggots have done their work???

Posted by: Sue Barker | January 7, 2008 03:25 PM

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