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By Janice Kleinschmidt
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That ain’t no cactus!” David Arquette’s character screams when seeing a gigantic spider leg in his hometown of Prosperity. Another of his memorable lines in the 2002 horror/comedy film Eight Legged Freaks is the apropos “Get back, you eight-legged freaks!”
Funny stuff, for sure — unless you’re James Kennedy, whose black widow spider bite was no laughing matter. He didn’t feel the bite that he thinks occurred while he was gardening at his Palm Springs home. But in the middle of the night, his left leg began to ache. The next morning, it hit him full force.
“When I stood up, the pain went from my kneecap to my foot,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘I’ll just ride it out.’” But when his agony failed to subside, he went to an urgent-care center, where a doctor confirmed that the blisters on his knee were the result of a black widow bite. The doctor said that if Kennedy had realized he’d been bitten sooner, he could have drawn some of the venom out with a compress made with charcoal in a wet cloth.
With nothing more than a prescription for Vicodin to relieve the pain, Kennedy spent the next few weeks feeling as though he had the flu. “I felt lethargic and depressed,” he says. “I didn’t want to get out of bed. I lost my appetite and slept a lot.”
After three weeks, the pain subsided — but returned equally as strong a week and a half later. “That’s when I got charcoal tablets from Clark’s [Nutrition Center],” Kennedy says. “I started feeling better almost the next day.” Three days later, the pain stopped. However, it took two months for the bite site — where the damage extended 1/4 inch below the skin surface — to heal.
“What surprised me was the extent to which it affected me,” Kennedy says.
Dr. Michael Jardula, an internist at Desert Oasis Healthcare in Palm Springs, estimates that urgent-care facilities see a couple of bug bite or sting cases a week in the spring and summer.
The first thing Jardula does is assess whether a patient’s condition is “a local reaction or systemic manifestation.” If he sees a pustular eruption or an open area of skin, he prescribes antibiotics to limit tissue damage. “If untreated, it could really be quite devastating,” he says. “The venom can be very toxic and very caustic to the skin. I have seen people that have come in with a significant amount of tissue loss and have required skin grafting.”
The initial treatment for a bug bite or bee sting is antihistamines. If the reaction becomes more severe or extends beyond skin reaction to symptoms such as fever, aches, shortness of breath, weakness, and even shock, he may give them a corticosteroid shot.
Upon being bitten by a spider or stung by a bee, a person may experience an acute hypersensitive allergic reaction, which generally occurs within minutes of the offending event. In the most severe cases, anaphylactic shock may lead to death if untreated. That type of reaction requires immediate treatment with adrenaline and/or steroids.
A second type of allergic reaction is called a delayed hypersensitivity reaction and may occur several days later, after the venom has been absorbed and sets in motion an inflammatory response. Most often, that type of reaction results in hives.
People who have had an anaphylactic reaction to a bee sting in the past should carry a bee sting kit (injectable adrenaline), because they are more susceptible to a severe reaction that could lead to a drop in blood pressure and death, Jardula says.
When the body is challenged with a foreign substance, it releases its defenses — histamines — to neutralize them. As the histamines increase blood flow and cells release proteins to attract immune cells to the wound, the injured area becomes inflamed. In the case of a person who has had an anaphylactic reaction to a bee sting, a subsequent occurrence can be even more severe. “The body has a memory system that says, ‘Oh, I have seen this one before. Let’s beef up my defenses,’” Jardula explains. These histamines not only attack the venom, but also destroy normal tissue.
While Palm Springs doesn’t have to worry — not yet, anyway — about Prosperity’s mutant, man-eating spiders, Kennedy’s experience proves that it is wise to take precautions against even standard-sized bugs.
Generally, black widow spiders prefer dark, undisturbed places. And, like most humans, they like to be dry and warm. So don’t reach blindly into a storage shed or other undisturbed area.
As for flying insects, such as bees, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, and mosquitoes, you could do worse than applying DEET before spending time outside. And, for heaven’s sake, don’t wear perfume when eating outdoors lest you be mistaken for a flower.
That said, you should know what to do when the bug bites or the bee stings — besides (with all due respect to Julie Andrews) remembering your favorite things.
Black Widow Spiders
Female black widow spiders are creepy not only because they eat their male counterparts after mating (thus the “widow” allusion), but also because they inflict pain on humans. A bite is very rarely lethal, but can be wicked nonetheless.
A black widow bite appears as a pale, swollen area of skin with two red dots surrounded by a red ring. Within an hour or two, victims typically experience severe muscle pain, cramps, and stiffness — beginning at the site of the bite and traveling to the back, shoulders, abdomen, and thighs. Within a few hours, other symptoms take hold. These may include chills, sweating, fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, severe abdominal pain, weakness, anxiety, difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure, seizure, and shock.
What To Do: Remain calm; rapid movement may increase the flow of venom into your bloodstream. Wash the bite with soap and water to prevent infection and apply a cold compress. Seek medical help. A doctor will probably prescribe pain medication and, possibly, medication to lower your blood pressure. An antivenin (usually only stocked by hospital emergency rooms and healthcare centers in high-risk areas) is reserved for cases when the victim is pregnant or experiences seizures or difficulty breathing.
Bees
Again, it’s the female insect that does harm. But if you bear in mind that bees die after losing their stingers, you’ll realize they (unlike mosquitoes) aren’t “out to get you.” So if a bee lands on you, don’t swat at it.
Typically, a bee sting is not dangerous, even though it is painful and causes localized redness, swelling, and itching. However, multiple stings and allergic reactions create other medical problems — in some instances fatal. Allergic reactions include rash or hives, swelling of the mouth and/or throat, difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, low blood pressure, and loss of consciousness.
What To Do: Scrape — do not pinch — the stinger to remove it from the skin. Wash the site with soap and water and apply a cold compress. Instances that require immediate medical attention include allergic reactions (call 911 if you are alone); a sting involving the mouth, throat, or eye; and multiple stings in a child, elderly person, or someone with a medical condition. If you have not had a tetanus shot for 10 years, get a booster within a few days.
There is no antivenin for bee stings, so medical treatments will focus on alleviating allergic symptoms (i.e., antihistamines, steroids, and epinephrine).
Fire Ants
Bees may be reluctant to give up their lives just to make you miserable, but the aggressive fire ant has no such qualms. She can — and does — sting her victim multiple times. First she uses her mandibles to pinch the skin; then she inserts her stinger and injects venom, rotates around her head to the next spot, and continues stinging in a circular pattern.
What To Do: If you’ve been unfortunate enough to step onto an ant mound, you may find hundreds of red ants crawling on your feet and up your legs. The obvious — and correct — reaction is to get the heck out of there and then quickly rub the little beasties off (they’re clinging on with their jaws). Wash the area(s) where you have been stung with soap and water and use a cold compress on the site.
The pain and itching from fire ant bites may last for hours, and pustules can develop up to a day later. Avoid scratching, as that can lead to infection. Wash the area with soap and water. Antihistamines and topical corticosteroids/hydrocortisone may relieve the itching.
As with bee stings, medical attention is required when allergic reactions occur, including dizziness, nausea, sweating, low blood pressure, headache, shortness of breath, or seizures.
When the Bug Bites, When the Bee Stings
Dr. Michael Jardula of Desert Oasis Heathcare suggests the following steps:
* Apply ice to reduce the spread of venom.
* Clean the wound with soap and water or antibacterial solution.
* Take an antihistamine, such as Benadryl, to keep the venom localized.
* Go to an emergency room or urgent-care facility if it is a black widow spider bite or a severe reaction to another type of bite or sting. |
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