Flesh-eating maggots found inside woman's ear after holiday in Peru

A British woman was horrified to discover flesh-eating maggots inside her ear after a holiday in Peru.

Rochelle Harris, 27, developed headaches on the flight home to Britain and within hours they turned into excruciating pains on the side of her face and she heard scratching sounds in her head.

According to the Daily Mail, when Rochelle went to the hospital, doctors presumed she had a minor ear infection or an infected mosquito bite but when they examined her ear they found a small hole in the ear canal.

Rochelle, from Derby, said: "My Mum asked her 'Can you see what it is?' and the doctor said 'If you don't mind I'd prefer to speak to the registrar before I tell you anything'.

"My Mum said 'Please tell us' and that's when the doctor said 'You've got maggots in your ear'. I burst into tears instantly."

According to the Daily Telegraph, she was given an emergency brain scan to find out how many there were and if there was any damage.

Miss Harris's ear was flooded with olive oil and she had to wait overnight to see if the treatment had worked.

The maggots had managed to survive and after exploring her ear with a microscope and speculum, a family of eight maggots were found.

They were sent to a lab for analysis and it was discovered that a New World Screw Worm Fly had laid eggs in her ear.

Rochelle said she had walked through a swarm of flies while in Peru and one had got into her ear but she didn't think anything of it once she had shooed it away.

Miss Harris said there had been no long-term problems and she is "no longer as squeamish as I was about bugs".

Rochelle's ordeal is featured on the Discovery Channel's new documentary, Bugs, Bites and Parasites, which started on 21 July at 10pm.

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