Evening star., 1932-07-20
MACCOTS HELPING
TO HEAL WOUNDS
Give Off New Substance Be-
Iieved to Weaken Deadly
Bacteria.
BY THOMAS +. HENRY.

Isolation OF new and extremely pow
<rful substance-the "active principle
Of blow-fiy maggots-which is extremely
effective IN clearing up infections N
deep wounds and persistent. non-heal-
ing sores has just been announced by
the Medical Department Of the United
States Veterans Administration.
This active principle, the isolation OF
which constitutes one of the most not
able recent advances IL medical science,
Is believed to be bao<<iephage, sup
posedly an almost infinitely minute ny
ing organism which infects bacteria
somewhat as they themselves infect
higher organisms.
The discovery according to the re-
port of DR.. S. K. Livingston, in the July
Medical Bulletin of the Veterans Ad-
ministration, came in the course OF
long series of experiments at the Vet
erans' Hospital at Hines, Ill, in the
treatment with maggots OF infected
wounds, cases of chronic osteomyelltS
and complications following fractures.
This treatment actually is to place
the living maggots in the wounds. They
crawl into the deep-seated pockets and
presumably devour the bacteria and eat
away the injected flesh. At the same
time they injure surrounding tissues less
than would stringent antiSepticS. This
treatment of wounds was known to some
tribes of Plains Indians and was redls-
covered during the World War by DR..
William S. Baer of Johns Hopkins Uni
versity while serving as surgeon In
France.
Aided Wounded Soldiers.
DR.. Baer noticed that the wounds Of
some American soldiers who had laid
on the field for more than "a hours
before they were discovered were very
badly infested with maggots and when
they were brought to the field hospital
little hope was held out for their re-
covery because of the opportunity for
infection to develop. To DR.. Baer's sur
prise these wounds not only healed
more quickly but more completely than
very similar injuries in men who had
been picked up by Stretcher bearers
within a few minutes after being struck
and had been given almost immediate
hospital treatment.
DR.. Baer did not Immediately connect
the maggots with the remarkable heal
ing and not until several years after the
war did he have the courage to apply
the principle in medical practice. Then
he tried it on some children with osteo-
mvelitis at the Johns Hopkins clinic
whose cases were considered hopeless.
In few weeks they were cured. Since
then the treatment has been widely
practiced and the Department OF Agri-
culture has established a laboratory for
the rearing of antiseptic maggotS
But the treatment Is somewhat re-
pulsive and the surgeon must be abso-
1utely sure of the sterility of the mag
gots. Now comes the remarkable dis
covery of the Veterans Administration
doctors. They found that within "a
hours after the maggotS we're placed in
the wound there ooZed out brownish-
red, evil-smelling foam, discharge
about five times greater than that due
to any other method of treatment. This
reaction is repeated following each
dressing throughout the period Of heal
ing.
Maggots Die Quicker.
The discharge says the report, Con
sists Of serum, bacteria, pus and heal
ing secretion. or active principle, the
origin of which has not yet been de-
termined but is being investigated.
After the third or fourth application
the maggots which, in the earlier appli-
cations remained alive from three to
five days, now only live three to five
hours.
This is because the active principle
DdS increased III NIuIeIlCe, anu tlle
hydrogen-ion concentration of the wound
has shifted to higher levels. In this
active principle and increased hydro
gen-ion concentration the maggots can
not survive. The wound rapidly fills
under stimulation of this active prin-
ciple with an excessive production Of
healthy and pink granulation tissue:
the color and rapidity of production Of
which is in marked contrast to the less
healthy granulation produced in wounds
treated by other methods"
This active principle alone, he says,
has been effective in curing several
cases Paste made from the dead bodies
of the maggots also was effective as a
curative agent Whether the crawling
and feeding action of the maggots is
also Of value is undetermined. The ex-
periments are being continued, the re-
port says.
The discovery of the active principle
may enable the more effective treatment
of wounds on the battle field or at the
actual time of an accident.