Effectiveness of wound cleansing treatments on maggot (Diptera, Calliphoridae) mortality

Myiasis is defined as an infestation of the organs and/or tissues of human and other animals by fly maggots. Fly species that normally breed in meat or carrion (Diptera: Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae) may become involved in cutaneous myiasis by colonizing preexisting wounds. Reports of human wound myiasis contracted in hospitals and nursing homes, especially when patients are chronically ill or bed-ridden, are not uncommon across North America and often result in cases of neglect and civil litigation. Based on a case history dealing with this latter situation and circumstances surrounding the treatment of maggot infestation, we designed an experiment to assess the effectiveness of wound cleansing solutions on maggot mortality. Treatments, consisting of four commonly used cleaning solutions (isopropyl alcohol, Dakin's solution, iodine, and hydrogen peroxide) and a control (deionized water), were applied to experimental units (n=5), with each unit consisting of groups of actively feeding Lucilia sericata maggots (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Every 24h, treatments were applied and mortality was assessed for the duration of the study (14 days). Total mean mortality increased over the duration of the experiment, with an initial large increase (10-25%) after the first treatment application, followed by a gradual increase over the remainder of the study. General differences among treatments indicated greatest mean total mortality for Dakin's solution (sodium hypochlorite) (46%), followed by isopropyl alcohol (42%), Betadine (37%), hydrogen peroxide (33%) and lowest mortality for the control (25%); however, no statistically significant differences were observed among treatments and no treatment resulted in 100% maggot mortality. Traditional wound cleansing solutions may not be sufficient for maggot infestations of pre-existing wounds and supplemental treatments may be necessary to effectively treat cases of wound myiasis.     

Has Basismo Disappeared?1

Abstract – In Brazil basismo has evolved from a libertarian discourse encouraged by the Church to a more institutionalised activity centred on local and international NGOs, with their increasingly managerial priorities.     

America's “Maginot Line” Defense Against Terror

Though anti‐American terrorism springs these days as much from Yemen and the “virtual ummah” as from Afghanistan, President Obama has nontheless further committed US troops to stabilizing a country well‐known as the graveyard of empires. What can the only Muslim country that belongs to NATO offer by way of advice? How best can the US keep its focus on the terrorist threat despite its diversion in Afghanistan? Turkey's former envoy to Afghanistan and two of Europe's leading experts on Islamist terrorism offer their views.     

Collembola of the grave: a cold case history involving arthropods 28 years after death

This report describes a cold case in which a cadaver of a 28-year-old female was exhumed in February 2005 from a cemetery in Battle Creek, Michigan. She had sustained a gunshot wound to the head and was found dead in her home on November 15, 1977. The body of the victim was subsequently embalmed and then buried at a depth of 1.8 m in an unsealed casket that was placed inside an unsealed cement vault. The exhumation yielded thousands of live specimens of a single species of the order Collembola or spring tails, Sinella (Coecobrya) tenebricosa (Entomobryidae). This species is considered to be a "tramp" species, cosmopolitan in the United States and Canada. Due to the ideal environmental conditions at the site, the population of this species underwent growth and development inside the casket for a number of years. Collected with the Collembola were large numbers of Acarina (mites) of the Family Glycyphagidae, and fly puparia, Conicera tibialis Schmitz (Order: Diptera, Family: Phoridae), also known as coffin flies. These invertebrates are sometimes mentioned by forensic investigators as occurring on corpses in graves, but aspects of their life history are rarely described. The species of Collembola that was found surviving and reproducing on this corpse in a casket exhumed after 28 years was the oldest reported grave site occurrence for any collembolan species based on a survey of the literature back to 1898.