Overview

• An eight-year-old in Yangzhou vomited live 1 cm-long larvae daily for nearly a month before doctors identified the cause.
• Dr Zhang Bingbing of the Children’s Hospital of Soochow University sent specimens to the Yangzhou CDC where technicians confirmed drain fly larvae.
• Officials say larvae likely entered the girl’s system through micro-splashes of contaminated underground water during tooth brushing or toilet flushing.
• Doctors prescribed anti-parasitic medication and hygiene interventions—disinfecting pipes, installing drain covers and using boiled or filtered water—which stopped her vomiting episodes.
• Human ingestion of drain fly larvae is extraordinarily rare with only one similar case previously recorded, prompting calls for regular drain maintenance.