Backgrounds: Envenomation is common in Asia including Iran that induces morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the epidemiological characteristics of cases with snake, spider and scorpion bites. Methods: In this cross-sectional design, epidemiologic data of admitted cases to the Toxicology Department of Imam Reza Hospital of Mashhad, Iran were analyzed across a 7-yr period, from 2004...

During a 6-mo period, 2,055 brown recluse spiders, Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch and Mulaik, were collected in a 19th-century-built, currently occupied home in Lenexa, KS. We conservatively estimate that at least 400 of these spiders were large enough to cause envenomation. Additional collections from more typically infested homes in Missouri and Oklahoma in 2001 yielded 45 and 30 brown recluse sp...

Black widow spiders (Latrodectus mactans) are found throughout the US. Though bites are relatively uncommon, they pose a significant health problem with over 2500 reported to American poison control centers annually. Black widow spider bites cause a characteristic envenomation syndrome consisting of severe pain, muscle cramping, abdominal pain, and back pain. The significant pain associated wit...

IMPORTANCE Bites from the brown recluse spider (BRS) can cause extreme pain. We propose cytokine release as a cause of the discomfort and a central mechanism through glial cell upregulation to explain measured pain levels and time course. OBSERVATIONS Twenty-three BRS bites were scored at a probable or documented level clinically, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to confirm t...

BACKGROUND Cutaneous manifestations of avian mite bites are not well recognized by physicians or patients. Clinical signs and symptoms are usually caused by bites from avian mites that have infested domestic poultry or birds nesting in or near human habitation. This report details 2 cases of pruritic papules acquired from avian mites that had infested pet gerbils and reviews the dermatologic li...

Computer-based self-help treatments have been proposed to provide greater access to treatment while requiring minimum input from a therapist. The authors employed a randomised controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of one-session computer-based exposure (CBE) as a self-help treatment for spider-fearful individuals. Spider-fearful participants in a CBE group underwent one 27-min session of...

In 1987, the hobo spider, Tegenaria agrestis, was initially implicated in necrotic lesions in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. This European-origin species has since joined the widow and recluse spiders to become the well-known trio of medically significant spiders in North America. It is currently distributed from British Columbia to Oregon and east to Montana and Colorado, with eas...