Horror of sand-fly bite that ate student's flesh

Published by Manchester Evening News (9 June 2009)

Nicola Dowling

A STUDENT is suffering
from a flesh-eating disease
after he was bitten
by a sand fly while trekking with
friends in Peru.


Now he is trying to raise
awareness of the condition after
it took doctors five months to
discover what was wrong with
him.


Girish Gupta, 22, studying
physics at Manchester University
was bitten during his South
American adventure last year.


Initially doctors thought he
had a common complaint connected
to hair follicles when he
spotted a lump near his groin
and a dark patch of skin on his
back.


But after repeated trips to
the doctor and hospital specialists
finally discovered he was
suffering from the condition
called Leishmaniasis earlier
this year.


The flesh-eating disease is
the same as that suffered by television
presenter Ben Fogle.
The star was diagnosed with it
after coming back from a trip to
Peru for the BBC Extreme
Dreams programme.


The disease is spread by the
sand fly and kills 80,000 people
every year in poorer countries.
It causes blisters or lesions to
form near the bite which can
spread through the bloodstream
or lymph nodes to the
mouth and nose. Another more
serious strain of the disease can
attack the internal organs.


Girish, who went ahead with
the Great Manchester Run despite
painful wounds on his
back, is currently awaiting intensive
treatment to kill the parasite
with an intravenous
injection of drugs.


The treatment is painful and
aggressive as the drugs have
side effects like those suffered
by chemotherapy patients.


Girish said: “I think it’s important
people realise it’s not
just malaria and the usual stuff
they’ve got to look out for when
away. And it’s always good to
get exposure for a disease that’s
unheard of. I don’t want anyone
to be put off by this, however.
“It’s entirely worth it for the
experience I had in my two
months in South America. I am
just trying to get on with things
at the moment. I completed the
Great Manchester 10k Run in
54m minutes. I have so far
raised £162 for Médecins Sans
Frontières, one of the few organisations
willing to help in areas
where the disease is rife and
prevent just some of the unnecessary
deaths that occur.”



Adventure-mad Girish,
hopes to be a journalist when he
finishes his final year at university.
During his trip with pals he
managed to get photographs of
an anti-government riot in Bolivia
which were carried on the
BBC website.


His treatment is due to take
place at North Manchester
General next month.


Anyone interested in helping
with Girish’s fundraising drive
can log on to: http://www.justgiving.
com/jammastergirishmsf