Maggots on the Brain

Gittin 56b tells of Titus' punishment, in which Hashem sent a gnat (יתוש) which entered his nostril and eventually pierced his brain.

I've always considered this story somewhat fantastic, but apparently it is possible. There was a recent case in Thailand: Maggots Chew Toward Woman's Brain:

DOCTORS in northern Thailand have removed almost three dozen fly maggots from a woman's nose, where they were eating their way towards her brain, a report said.

The 38-year-old pig farmer from the northwestern city of Chiang Mai is believed to be the first reported case in Thailand of maggots nesting in a human's nose, Tawee Thanuparprangsan of Nakhon Ping hospital told The Nation newspaper.

...

"Probably while she was sleeping, a fly went up her nose and laid its eggs, which then hatched into larvae," Tawee said.

If the infected area had spread to her brain, she could have died, Tawee added.

Last week, the paper reported that an 84-year-old man on the southern resort isle of Phuket had 50 maggots removed from his ear, after he went to a hospital complaining of an itch.

He had scratched his ears so hard that they started bleeding, and doctors said that flies apparently had gotten inside and laid eggs.

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