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Thatmacroguy via Shutterstock
Thatmacroguy via Shutterstock
NUI GALWAY RESEARCHERS have developed the world’s first verified guide and symptoms checklist on how to recognise and treat bites from the false widow spider.
Although the household spider is common here, it is in fact a foreign species that has steadily invaded Ireland over the past 20 years through human transport of goods.
The first true case of a false widow spider bite was identified in the UK in the 1990s – the second was in Chile last year.
There has since been five additional reported cases, three in Ireland and two in the UK, leading to the NUI Galway study being the most intensive research carried out on this species to date.
A false widow’s bite is not fatal, but it can result in a large swelling within three minutes of being bitten, sometimes followed by the formation of a dry necrotic wound when the swelling subsides, and inflammation for a few days afterwards.
These are the symptoms they listed, ranked from common to uncommon:
Very common (almost all victims present these symptoms):
Prolonged mild to intense pain (up to 24 hours)
Erythema, which is a skin condition that results in redness or a rash
Common (present in a majority of victims in addition to the above)
Moderate to extensive local swelling (up to 24 hours)
Prolonged pruritus, ie severe itching (up to 36 hours)
Raised skin around bite site
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Rare (some victims may present this symptoms in addition to the ones above)
Piloerection, or goosebumps
Vasodilation, or decreases blood pressure
Very rare (very few victims may present these symptoms in addition to all or some of the above)
Superficial dermonecrosis (or dead skin up to 2 mm wide)
Facial flushing
Feverishness
Diaphoresis, or sweating
The venom from a false widow spider is a lot more powerful than the researchers expected, producing about one tenth of a millionth of a litre of venom.
The lead author of the study, Dr Michel Dugon from the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway, said:
While it is extremely unlikely that a bite will ever be fatal, we do need to consider bites from False Widows as a potential health risk given the increase of this species not just in the UK and Ireland but also mainland Europe and the US.
The team compiled the list and guide while investigating whether the venom from a false widow spider could also be a source of novel therapeutics to develop medication to treat illnesses ranging from bacterial infection to cancer.
The Venom Systems and Proteomics lab in NUI Galway is the only one in the world working on extracting venom from the false widow spider for potential therapies.
Common house spider (Eratigena atrica).
This particular species of spider is having a detrimental effect on other local species and spiders in Ireland due to their competitiveness and quick breeding ability.
The false widow lives for five to seven years whereas most other spider and bug species in Ireland only lives for up to one year.
In Ireland, false widow spiders live close to buildings and houses inhabited by people, and can only survive in cities and not in rural areas.
Based on the latest research, Dublin, Cork and Wexford have the highest number of false widow spiders.
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If a pre school is short 1 plaster in a box of 10,thats an automatic fail in 1st aid compliance on the report,the current report will just say 1st aid fail,it does say its because its short of a plaster. Thats hardly fair,i hope the new reports actuly report the proper issues discovered in pre schools that are not up to proper standards. Will the new laws assist the low paid staff with proper working hours,pay and entitlements ??
Couldn’t agree more. I personally know of a case where the preschool inspector complained there were too many varieties of plasters & dressings. All the new regulations will not prevent nasty people who don’t like children been mean to them like we saw on the Prime Time programme.
New legislation is all well & good. Maintaining appropriate carer:child ratios, training staff properly & paying them a credible wage is more paramount, imo…
Perhaps some regulation for childminders too, who look after children in their own home. I have come across many wonderful childminders who treat the children they look after impeccably, however they are not all the same. This is a largely unregulated area and I feel there should be some sort of inspections/reports similar to the UK.
No one cares for a
Child better that his or her parent but unfortunately during the credit tiger we lost the run of ourselves and required 2
Parents working to support ridiculous mortgages and the introduction of the chain crèche with high running costs etc
The whole country needs an overhaul not just childcare and plenty of crèche’s who pay staff fairly and treat children well they are just harder to find because the pull of the larger crèche with the so called reputation is a greater pull ….inspectors need to inspect what’s really important not tick a flip board actually sit in the crèche for few days to observe properly
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