Study: Maggots Rid Ulcers Of Superbugs

Maggots may be able to take rid patients of MRSA -- an antibiotic-resistant bug that can be very hard to treat.

Feature: Superbug Or False Alarm?

University of Manchester researchers reported that they were able to used green bottle fly larvae to get MRSA out of foot ulcers in 13 diabetic patients.

It took an average of three weeks in those patients. Traditional treatment takes 28 weeks. No topical antimicrobial agents or growth factors were used on the study ulcer.

Researcher Andrew Boulton said, "Maggots are the world's smallest surgeons. In fact they are better than surgeons -- they are much cheaper and work 24 hours a day."

The results were published in the journal Diabetes Care.