External auditory canal leech: a rare case report of paediatric external auditory canal haemorrhage

Abstract

Leeches are blood sucking organism feed on human blood. While human bites are common, they rarely cause human internal infestation. We describe a rare case of a parasitic leech infestation of the External Auditory Canal (EAC).
A two month old child presented to the Emergency department with a seven day history of left sided ear bleeding. On examination she was noted to have a whitish foreign body in the left EAC imbedded in fresh blood. Irrigation with warm saline extracted a 1.5 cm long leech. While very uncommon, parasitic infestation should be considered in a patient living in the tropics