InkBlog

• Lisa Fleming, who appeared on TLC's "My 600-Lb. Life," found maggots growing in the folds of her skin.
• Fleming said finding maggots on her body was the moment she realized that she needed help. 
• The infection she had was likely a form of wound myiasis, in which maggots can infest open wounds or sores.
• There are different forms of myiasis, with different treatments. 

At 704 pounds, Lisa Fleming knew that she needed to lose weight. But it wasn't until she found maggots in the folds of her skin that she finally sought help on the TLC show "My 600-Lb Life."

Fleming had started to feel sick and noticed that her leg had been bothering her continually. She told her daughter, who pulled open the folds of Fleming's skin to find maggots. Fleming's daughter now has to check her mother's leg every day to make sure it's healing. 

But how exactly does this condition occur?

Fleming likely experienced a form of myiasis. 

Darvin Scott Smith, a researcher in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University, told INSIDER that Fleming likely experienced a form of wound myiasis — an infection that happens when a fly deposits its egg on a wound or open sore where it will be able to feed on human flesh and give birth to maggots. 

"In the context of an open wound, flies would land on these open sores or ulcerations in the skin and that's where they would want to lay their eggs," Smith told INSIDER. "If there are unclean surfaces inorganic material, the fly can put it's larvae there and they will thrive because there are lots of nutrients."

Fleming's intertrigo, the inflammation of skinfolds caused by skin-on-skin friction, is a common condition among severely obese individuals that can lead to infections and even myiasis. 

Although Smith did not treat Fleming, he has seen the condition in other patients. One developed myiasis as a result of storing McDonald's burgers in her fat folds to keep them warm. Another, a cancer patient, had larvae living in a wound on his scalp.

"That's exactly the setup for organic detritus to have the fly lay the egg and take root," Smith told INSIDER.

Fleming's form of myiasis is not common — but others are. 

The good news is that wound myiasis is not common. There are several forms of myiasis, with furuncular myiasis being the most common form, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is most likely to be found in travelers that visit tropical and subtropical countries such as Central America, South America, Africa, and the Caribbean Islands. 

Travelers at risk of furuncular myiasis can take precautions. Romain Blaizot, a doctor in the Dermatology Department at the Hôpital Andrée Rosemon, told INSIDER that travelers should wear long-sleeves shirts and use repellent such as DEET. He also suggested drying clothes indoors or ironing them, as flies may lay their eggs on clothes or sheets that have been hanged up to dry outside 

Treatment requires removal of the maggots one by one and cleaning the wound, Romain Blaizot, a doctor in the Dermatology Department at the Hôpital Andrée Rosemon in Cayenne, French Guiana, told INSIDER. Wound myiasis also relies on covering wounds and keeping them clean.

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