According to a report in the Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com patients in Britain suffering from infected wounds will be able to take home a pot of maggots as part of a scheme that allows doctors to prescribe them for treatment.

General Practitioners, in Britain can now offer patients a prescription of maggots to help heal wounds and hopefully avoid lengthy stays in hospital. The treatment is not a new one. In the First World War victims recovered from no man’s land were said to have had maggots put on their wounds to devour the bacteria. Recent research at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, south Wales, showed that sterile maggots can heal wounds faster than conventional medicine.  

I think most of us would prefer a clinical trial of the other 'natural' alternative, New Zealand's active manuka honey before we took home a pot of maggots. Apitherapy (as it is called) helps a variety of skin conditions including leg ulcers, burns, bacterial infections (including MRSA - Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus), psoriasis, eczema, acne and septic wounds. Active manuka honey has also been used widely to treat and heal digestive conditions such as stomach (peptic) ulcers caused by the helicobacter pylori bacteria, diahrroea and irritable bowel syndrome as well as other medical ailments like eye infections.

Indeed, the honey has proved effective in the treatment of a great diversity of problems in which bacteria or fungal infection plays a role. It is now being used to combat the antibiotic resistant bacteria MRSA which infests surgical wounds in hospital wards. Before you take home a pot maggots visit the delightful website of the Honey Research Unit, Waikato University, Hamilton, NZ. http://honey.bio.waikato.ac.nz and read about an alternative.

Dr Bruce A. J. Dewe MD NZRK
27 February 2004