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cheryl000 · 04-19-2006, 06:28 AM

Finally some good news:http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/brownrecluse.asp
Brown Recluse

Claim: Photographs depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite.

Status: Undetermined.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003]

These pictures are of the damage done by a bite of the brown recluse spider over a period of 10 days. These are not for the faint of heart to view as they are quite graphic.

Origins: Whether these photographs actually depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite is difficult to determine. The accompanying text provides no useful identifying information, such as where the putative victim lives or where he was bitten, whether he obtained a diagnosis of his wound from a doctor, whether he sought medical treatment, etc. Various accounts place these pictures as having originated in Missouri, Wisconsin, or
California.

Even if these photographs are genuine, they likely create an exaggerated sense of the danger posed by brown recluse spiders. As Phillip Anderson, a Missouri physician who specializes in brown recluse spider bites, explained in an article for the medical journal Missouri Medicine, "Almost all brown recluse spider bites heal nicely in two to three months without medical treatment at all. Also the long-term medical outcome is excellent without treatment." Furthermore, says Anderson, "We are not aware of any verifiable deaths caused by the bite of the North American brown recluse spider." (He noted that several deaths from such wounds "had been reported in medical journals, but none of the reports is convincing.") He also reported that out of "about 1,000 credible recluse spider bites," he was only aware of "about a dozen cases of impressive, sustained hemolysis."

In fact, just about the greatest danger of a bite of this nature is not the direct effects of the venom, but rather the introduction of secondary bacterial infection due to the patient's continually scratching the site (spider bites can itch terribly!) or otherwise failing to keep the wound clean.

If these photographs truly depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite, they represent a very rare occurrence. Quite possibly they are genuine photographs of some completely different medical ailment (unrelated to spider bites) with similar physical symptoms (such as pyoderma gangrenosum or necrotizing fasciitis), and someone who came across the pictures outside of their original context mistakenly assumed them to depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite.

04-19-2006, 06:28 AM	#34
cheryl000 YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: none Posts: 1,495	Finally some good news:http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/brownrecluse.asp Brown Recluse Claim: Photographs depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite. Status: Undetermined. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003] These pictures are of the damage done by a bite of the brown recluse spider over a period of 10 days. These are not for the faint of heart to view as they are quite graphic. Origins: Whether these photographs actually depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite is difficult to determine. The accompanying text provides no useful identifying information, such as where the putative victim lives or where he was bitten, whether he obtained a diagnosis of his wound from a doctor, whether he sought medical treatment, etc. Various accounts place these pictures as having originated in Missouri, Wisconsin, or California. Even if these photographs are genuine, they likely create an exaggerated sense of the danger posed by brown recluse spiders. As Phillip Anderson, a Missouri physician who specializes in brown recluse spider bites, explained in an article for the medical journal Missouri Medicine, "Almost all brown recluse spider bites heal nicely in two to three months without medical treatment at all. Also the long-term medical outcome is excellent without treatment." Furthermore, says Anderson, "We are not aware of any verifiable deaths caused by the bite of the North American brown recluse spider." (He noted that several deaths from such wounds "had been reported in medical journals, but none of the reports is convincing.") He also reported that out of "about 1,000 credible recluse spider bites," he was only aware of "about a dozen cases of impressive, sustained hemolysis." In fact, just about the greatest danger of a bite of this nature is not the direct effects of the venom, but rather the introduction of secondary bacterial infection due to the patient's continually scratching the site (spider bites can itch terribly!) or otherwise failing to keep the wound clean. If these photographs truly depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite, they represent a very rare occurrence. Quite possibly they are genuine photographs of some completely different medical ailment (unrelated to spider bites) with similar physical symptoms (such as pyoderma gangrenosum or necrotizing fasciitis), and someone who came across the pictures outside of their original context mistakenly assumed them to depict the effects of a brown recluse spider bite.