Hospitals in the developing world may be able to save money, and fight off antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with a cheap and readily available tool: maggots.
BBC News is reporting that a pilot study at Kenyatta National Hospital has found an ancient technique called maggot therapy is reducing the need for antibiotics and long hospital stays for patients with infected skin and soft tissue wounds.
Bred at the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute, maggots are packed into tea bag-like packets that are delivered to nearby hospitals. Doctors place the packets on patients’ infected wounds and cover them with a dressing.
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Over the course of a few days, the maggots feed on the dead tissue, essentially stealing the ‘food’ that allows bacteria to grow. And they do that without eating live tissue, meaning there shouldn’t be pain involved.
This therapy actually dates back to ancient times and was used heavily by the military before the discovery of penicillin and other modern antibiotics. The FDA even approved medicinal maggots in 2004 as a single-use, prescription-only medical device for treatment of chronic ulcers and non-healing traumatic or surgical wounds. They seemed to have regained steam in the U.S. over the last decade as a treatment for diabetic foot ulcers.
But in the developing world, the simple therapy could mean lower costs and less antibiotics use. Results from the pilot are still being analyzed, but Dr. Christopher Kibiwot told BBC News that patients who would traditionally be kept at the hospital for three months were able to leave within a few weeks.
[Image credit: Flickr user stevendepolo]
