Doctors urged people to take necessary vaccines and to observe all notes and suggestions regarding travel and attire in jungles, adding that people should visit medical facilities if they find wounds or bug bites after returning from abroad.
Mackay Memorial Hospital Department of Oral Medicine Doctor Liu Chung-chi (劉崇基) yesterday said his department recently received a patient, a 33-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), who complained about worsening pain in his lips.
Chen said that he had visited Machu Picchu in Peru and stayed at a local hostel in the jungle region in October last year.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
Discovering a small wound on his lips in November last year, he said he visited a dermatology clinic after the wound had failed to heal after two weeks.
Chen exhibited a minor condition of papules near the wound, which resembled an insect bite, which was initially diagnosed as herpes, Liu said.
However, upon further assesment, it was evident that three wounds had failed to heal and showed signs of “movement” within, resulting in a changed diagnosis of being infested with a form of larvae, he said.
Liu said he tried to remove the larvae without anesthetics, but Chen could not bear the pain.
Liu said he then arranged for Chen to undergo general anesthesia and removed the larvae after 15 minutes of surgery.
The larvae were sent to the lab and National Taiwan University Department of Entomology Professor Hsia Hsu-feng (蕭旭鋒) confirmed that it was the larvae of the Gasterophilus intestinalis, also known as horse botfly.
Liu said the country has only seen two previous cases of horse botfly larvae infestation, both of which were on the scalp, adding that this was both the first recorded incident of larval lip infestation in the country and the first encounter of it in his career.
The larvae had hatched from eggs because Chen’s previous visits to clinics had misdiagnosed the symptoms, Liu said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS