Doctors find bees in woman's eye, feeding on her tears

A woman was living out her worst nightmare when it turned out her eye infection was caused by bees living inside of her eye. 

In what is described as a 'world's first', doctors from Fooyin University Hospital in Taiwan managed to extract four bees from her eye socket. 

According to the Daily Mail, the woman, known only by her surname He, was cleaning a relative's grave and pulling out weeds when the insects flew straight into her eyes. 

She described feeling something in her eye, but assumed it was dirt or sand, thus she tried to flush out the particles with water. However, the pain persisted and by night, she started tearing up and felt a sharp pain in her eye. 

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Dr Hung Chi-ting, the head of ophthalmology at the hospital, told a press conference that the 20-year-old was hospitalised with cellulitis and keratitis - a bacterial skin infection and the inflammation of the cornea. 

He then proceeded to inspect her eye under his microscope but discovered insect legs wriggling in her socket. He took out them out and realised that it was four sweat bees feeding on Ms He's tears. 

The bees were extracted alive from her eyes. 

While sweat bees tend to be a non-aggressive species of bees, they are known to be attracted to human sweat, hence, their name.

It was also fortunate that she had not rubbed her eyes when she felt pain, as it could have squashed and killed the insects in her eye which would have led to more serious issues and even cause blindness. Thankfully, He has been discharged and is expected to make a full recovery. 

Dr Hung also added that this incident serves as a reminder for those who practice Qingming, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, to take precautions and wear goggles while cleaning the graves as sweat bees nest near graves and in fallen trees.

With such a horrifying find, it is definitely a measure worth taking up. 

kimberlyfoo@asiaone.com