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KOLKATA, India – A woman receiving treatment for diabetes at a state-run hospital in eastern India lost one of her eyes after ants nibbled away at it, officials said on Tuesday.
The patient recovering from a post-surgery infection shrieked for help as the ants attacked her on Sunday night, but nurses told her it was normal to feel pain from the infection.
On Monday, the patient’s family saw a gaping hole with swarming ants in it when they lifted the bandage on her left eye.
Authorities of the Sambhunath Hospital in Kolkata said they were probing the incident.
Its not uncommon for ants to attack diabetic patients. We have set up a committee to investigate the unfortunate incident, hospital superintendent A. Adhikary said.
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If the ants in India are anything like the ants in Sri Lanka, this is seriously not that surprising. We have a lot of different kinds, and some of them deliberately bite human flesh. When they infest an area, they don’t take no for an answer. We get them everywhere, and it’s a constant battle with the ants.
I had a cut that was infected, and the ants swarmed on it, trying to feed on it. Gross and disgusting, yes, and irritating and painful as well.
As far as I know, except for our bathroom, we have no infestations in the house. Oh, and the termites trying to build a nest on the wall. But leave one piece of anything out, and you’ll have a trail of hundreds of ants coming from three different directions to feed on it.
Outside, there are probably a hundred ant nests either in the yard, on the gated wall, or on the house or in the foundations or the walls. They’re everywhere, and there’s NO WAY to get away from them. The entire country is an infestation.
I hate ants. Hate hate hate hate hate ’em.
And seriously, I doubt that India’s any better.
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