Le Nouvel Observateur

    Friday 13 May 2005

    The effectiveness of maggots in cleaning infected wounds has been confirmed by an Australian study published Friday, May 13. This ancestral practice, which had fallen into disuse, is now experiencing a return to favor.

    "Maggots can do a better job of cleaning wounds than a surgeon, who can count on only what his eyes see when he cuts away dead tissue," Doctor Alvin Cham of the Royal Australasian Surgeons' College declared in a communiqué. Maggots, raised for this purpose and sterilized, can act as "micro-surgeons" who "clean and eat what is dead" only, he explains.

    Against Antibiotics' Abuse

    For diabetics and patients suffering from coronary problems whose wounds are difficult to treat, as well as for sick people who are resistant to antibiotics, the larvae can be particularly useful, the doctor added.

    Fly larvae kill bacteria and eat dead flesh while leaving healthy tissues intact. Then they are removed from the wound.

    In February, the British Medical Corps received a green light to return to using maggots for treating infected wounds. At the same time, it's a means of fighting against antibiotics' abuse.

    This technique goes back to antiquity. It had been used during the First World War, and then fell into disuse with the advent of antibiotics.