Monsters....stop those creepy crawlies!!!

Mango Fly
Photo credit: Google Images

Oh no, I haven't been this traumatised in a while. I took my child to the clinic for routine immunisation and i saw the most nerve wracking thing ever. 

A boy of about 5-6 years was brought in by his parents, I managed to hear them because they spoke to the nurse that was supposed to administer the immunisation to my son. They narrated that their child had been complaining of this pain on the top of his shoulders for the past 5 days. There were about three red, angry boils at the site and the poor boy was in so much pain. 

Our nurse directed them to another nurse so that she could attend to us. We went to the area designated for injections and quick treatments and then the boy and his parents came in as well. I shuddered because i could hear the child groaning in pain. First thing I thought was that an infection had taken place and an antibiotic would quickly cure him.

Then......the nurse attending to them came in with a bowl and cloth. She started massaging the boils gently. And you won't believe what happened next. My goodness, worms started to crawl out from the boils. WORMS!!! I hate creepy things!!! I really hate things that crawl and it was coming out from this little boy. I couldn't believe my eyes. I wanted to leave my son and run out of the room. 

Thank heavens we were quickly done with the immunisation. I was really troubled and shocked. I was just about to pay and leave when I saw the child's mum coming to pay as well. I didn't want to ask because i felt i was intruding but somehow the words managed to escape from my lips. I asked her politely what the diagnosis was. She sighed and said " The doctor said its Mango Fly". 

I got home and went straight to Google. Thank God for Google! I searched "Mango Fly". The information I read was bone chilling because i kept imagining if it happened to my kids. 

Mango Fly/Worm is also know as Myiatic Fly or Tumbu Fly. When you hang your laundry outside to dry, a female Mango Fly can lay eggs in them. Then when you bring the clothes in and wear them, the eggs can penetrate into your skin and hatch right in there. 

It would cause itching, then a painful boil forms after about three days. The boil gets ripe and when its expressed, the worms emerge. I wondered how I could prevent this from happening to my family because i hang laundry outside as well so I went on to research. 

So I discovered that ironing laundry kills any eggs that may be present. Another option is leaving dried clothes for over 48 hours before wearing them because the eggs have a lifespan of less than 48 hours. 

Usually, my mum warns me to iron all my baby clothes before they put it on. But sometimes when I notice the clothes are not rumpled I'm like....what the heck? So I don't bother. That day, I emptied the kids wardrobe and I got the nanny to join me in an ironing frenzy. 

Please, iron all your laundry (clothes, beddings, towels, under garments, everything) Please, please, please! I'm still in a state of shock. Would probably be for a while. 

Have a beautiful week!!! 

x.o.x.o

Mummyhive❤️