Man dies after being bitten by a common household SPIDER: dismissed tiny bite to the neck....

DAILY MAIL ^ | 27 February 2014 | DAILY MAIL REPORTER

[dennisw]

Ronald Reese, 62, of Lakeland, Florida died February 16 from complications from a brown recluse spider bite Reese was bitten on this neck in August and numerous related illnesses and hospital stays followed

A 62-year-old Florida man's February 16 death is being blamed on a brown recluse spider bite, a fatality so rare that statistics aren't even kept for them. Ronald Reese was bitten in the neck by the spider, which are usually about the size of a U.S. quarter, all the way back in August while clearing out an old house. What followed were six agonizing months of related illnesses as the Lakeland man clung to life with an abscess eating away toward his spine until he finally let go last week.

Reese managed to make it home that day in August after he was bitten, but by the following day his father told TheLedger.com that his son could barely get out of bed. Days after that, a paralyzed Reese collapsed. The Polk County Medical Examiner deemed his death the result of complications from a spider bite, but between his collapse and his eventual death, Reese suffered terribly.

Reese's 88-year-old father William Reese said his son went through numerous procedures and was in and out of the hospital, but nothing seemed to work.

[cardinal4]

Ugh, what a way to go..

[from occupied ga]

Spray more insecticide!

[rktman]

So, where is the outcry from Mares against spider violence? One of my former work buddies got bitten by a Brown Recluse. Didn’t kill him be sure caused a big chunk of his thigh to be taken out. Nasty little devils.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The brown recluse is common hereabouts in Missouri. Fatalities are extremely rare.

[thackney]

ping

[RummyChick]

The pictures online of those spider bites scare the beejesus out of me.

People should have drawing salve and activated charcoal on hand to draw out the venom of a spider bite.

[gopno1]

I got bit by one last spring. It sucked. Was hiding in my sweatshirt. It was unbelievably painful for about a week, the it started to heal. Thankfully it didn’t break open. Needless to say, I would rather not go through it again.

[Right Brother]

My brother developed progressive cellulitis from a BR spider bite that after several years, took his life.

[from occupied ga]

The brown recluse is common hereabouts in Missouri. Fatalities are extremely rare.

Maybe if all of the brown recluses in MO were shipped to NJ or NY ...

[Tammy8]

Years ago a recluse bit me on my thigh...ended up with a hole I could put my fist in before it finally healed. I can only imagine how bad it would be to get bit neck/head/face.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The young daughter of the guy who built our house suffered a BR bite some years ago on her right arm. The bite grew from a red spot about the size of a dime to a full 2 inches across. The girl was treated at Mayo's in Rochester and today still has a deep scar but her arm was saved.

[piroque]

I've been bitten 3-times .twice on the left hand (hiding in my nail bag) and once on the right big toe (in my boot).
The thumb wasted away to just skin and bone after 20+ years never got my full strength back .
The brown recluse spider bite looks almost like an ant bite ,but comes to a clear blister and etches & burns

[jocon307]

It may be rare to die of this, but as we see even from the comments here this is a very dangerous creature.

I think they are found throughout the US.

[trisham]

"The native range lies roughly south of a line from southeastern Nebraska through southern Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana to southwestern Ohio. In the southern states, it is native from central Texas to western Georgia and north to Kentucky.

Despite rumors to the contrary, the brown recluse spider has not established itself in California nor anywhere outside its native range. Over the last century, occasional spiders have been intercepted in various states where they have no known established populations; these spiders may be transported fairly easily, though the lack of established populations well outside the natural range also indicates that such movement has not led to colonization of new areas, after decades of opportunities.
Note that the occurrence of brown recluses in a single building (such as a warehouse) outside of the native range is not considered a successful colonization; such single-building populations can occur (e.g., several such cases in Florida, but do not spread, and can be easily eradicated."

Source: Wikipedia

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

Spiders ain’t insects - but that stuff’ll kill ‘em anyhow!

[Paradox]

This woman I know, got bit by one on her leg.. the abscess was nasty, but the WORST part was, during treatment for it, she contracted MRSA. It ate away half the tissue in her leg. Nearly lost her leg and her life.

talk about bad luck

[Nifster]

the brown recluse is a nasty little beast

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Worst bite I ever had, worse than a pygmy rattler. I ended up with a secondary infection in my mastoid sinuses that kept me sick for almost a year.

[AlexW]

I lived with many brown recluse spiders in west Tennessee.
My last home and business was an old 2 story school building
that was full of them. The recluse is also known as a “fiddle back” because of the violin shape mark on its back.
It looks like any small common spider.
When bitten, one will see a small blister which will, within a short time, collapse and create a volcano shaped blister. You will not likely feel anything when it bites you.
It is imperative that you get immediate treatment, consisting of massive doses of cortisone by injections. If untreated, the bight will begin to rot the skin around it, often requiring plastic surgery.
The spider was unknown in many areas, such as Tennessee, prior to the 1970s, or so. It has spread across the US in shipping shipping cartons, as people move from state to state.