Effect of venom on children

[becca81]

Does anyone know anything about the effect of tarantula venom on small children? Has there ever been any incidents of a small child being bitten by a tarantula with "medically significant" venom?

I've heard that no humans have ever died as a result of a tarantula bite, and I'm wondering how "safe" children are around the Ts.

Thanks!

 

[Bort]

I've always wandered if a pokie's venom is so severe in adults, what would it do to small children, or the elderly even. Someone needs to test this!

-Bort

 

[mimic58]

Can i volunteer my mother in law for this test ;P

 

[Arachnobrian]

hahahaha to funny.

I agree, it would be nice to know the effects of the venom of various species.

 

[Freddie]

I'd say that kids are more sensitive to tarantula venom than healthy adult.
Kids immunity is not that "good" than adults. It may not kill but never can know - or i dont.

Think about all those facts - "not harmfull to adults, be careful with children and old persons" - things that can read a bit everywhere. Human's condition has a huge effect how the venom will affect and so on...

Human biology lecture... ok.
Maybe i shut my mouth and be quiet. All should know something about Homo sapiens...

 

[BlkCat]

I couldnt find anything on small children. But I did find a site that tells u what to do when bitten.
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Farm/3173/articles/spiderbite.html

It tells about local reactions, signs of infection, allergic reactions, etc. It does also say "there is little or no documented medical evidence regarding the medical significance of tarantula bites,"

Here is a severe reaction to a Poecilotheria striata bite. (adult)
http://www.bighairyspiders.com/poec.html

 

[mimic58]

Other info.
mexican redknee
In the country of origin Mexico many still believe that these spiders have killed children, horses and cows. A myth that seems hard to get rid of.

 

[Tarantula-Kid]

My experience

I've written bite reports on these. I have been bitten twice. Once by a two inch C. cyanopubesence and once by an adult male A. avic. I am ten years old and weigh 55 lbs. These bites were both last year. It felt a little weird and I was surprised more than hurt. I didn't have any problems.

Buy after what happened to Mr. Darrin, Mom doesn't want me to keep Pokies anymore.

Elizabeth

 

[Washout]

Other info.
mexican redknee
In the country of origin Mexico many still believe that these spiders have killed children, horses and cows. A myth that seems hard to get rid of.

Well it might not be a myth, a lot of the symptoms that people report (pain a week later, cramps etc.) can be attributed to a severe infection. So while the venom wouldn’t kill a cow or person it's possible for them to die from a dirty bite and the following infection.

 

[Windchaser]

Well it might not be a myth, a lot of the symptoms that people report (pain a week later, cramps etc.) can be attributed to a severe infection. So while the venom wouldn’t kill a cow or person it's possible for them to die from a dirty bite and the following infection.

This is certainly possible in the wild, however it is not very likely with pets. The pets are kept under much more sterile conditions and likely will not have a "dirty" bite.

 

[MrsT]

I would say a bite could be dangerous if you where allergic or an elderly person with a bad heart or something, I mean people have been killed with bee and wasp stings, I suppose it works the same for Ts, some people it really affects and other don't even know they have been bit.

 

[mimic58]

Well it might not be a myth, a lot of the symptoms that people report (pain a week later, cramps etc.) can be attributed to a severe infection. So while the venom wouldn’t kill a cow or person it's possible for them to die from a dirty bite and the following infection.

I have red many reports of Secondary infection caused from Unknown bacteria that the spiders carry , I would be extreamly cautious of these as so litle is known about them you maybe the first to contract an Unknown illness..

In many respects i would regard the bacteria as potencialy far more dangerous than the venom injected.

im certanly not in a hurry to get bit by any of my T's knowing this ,Its also worth noting that some species have only been described for as little as a year meaning appsolutly nothing is known about what they are carrying besides venom ,Id consider this a to b a very real danger as rats once carried plauge and other horific deseases its only fare to asume some t's "might" carry something equaly nasty...

Something i have wanted to know for a while is wever a T can be a carrier for commonly known illneses aswell

Example if a t eats something infected with molaria or yellow feaver does it then carry it for a while in its bite?

 

[Windchaser]

Id consider this a to b a very real danger as rats once carried plauge and other horific deseases its only fare to asume some t's "might" carry something equaly nasty...

Technically, the rats carried the fleas that carried the plague. The rats themselves were not infected. During the plague, the people of the time for made things much worse by some of their actions. First, they mistakenly thought that dogs and cats were responsible and thus got rid of them. This allowed the rat population to go unchecked. Secondly, once they did start getting rid of the rats, and when the rats started to die, the fleas jumped to the next available host, namely humans. Interestingly, Nostradamus believed that unclean conditions were responsible for various illnesses. During the plague, he was one of a few people of the times that would burn the clothes, as well as the bodies of plague victims. He helped to stem the tide of the plague in areas he visited.

Something i have wanted to know for a while is wever a T can be a carrier for commonly known illneses aswell

Example if a t eats something infected with molaria or yellow feaver does it then carry it for a while in its bite?

That is an interesting question. Though, even if this is possible, in the pet trade with CB T's, I doubt it will be a siginficant risk. Wild caught are a whole other matter that is worth looking at.

 

[mimic58]

spot on with the Flee's

w/c T's = paracites and in poorly maintained petshops im sure they could be passed over to c/b stock ,theres also a question of what else the w/c caught ones have been eating and if that was infected.. could that be passed on the same way to.... :?

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=38238 << READ this

theres litraly no medical research for a great deal of new species some of them "could" be carrying an undescribed virus or bacterium or mite.

Only way we find out is when someone gets bit and then they iver catch something really nasty (infection/virii), or they dont But to be sure there are some secondary infections that doctors have not seen or fully understand.

I DONT FANCY ONE!

 

[JonDaAzn]

BBC says that children are likely to be "sucked to death"

 

[LPacker79]

I would say a bite could be dangerous if you where allergic or an elderly person with a bad heart or something, I mean people have been killed with bee and wasp stings, I suppose it works the same for Ts, some people it really affects and other don't even know they have been bit.

Nobody's ever been allergic to T venom, and the possibility of that happening is almost zilch. Bee venom and tarantula venom are completely different. From a post a while back on another forum, posted by Lelle (Crotalus here on AB):

"Im not a toxinolog but i asked one of the best toxinologists in the field, Brian G. Fry, about this a while back on a forum and here is his reply:

"The insect venoms cause allergic shock by containing in large amounts proteins that are related not only to the snake venom CRISP proteins but also immunomodulatory proteins secreted by parasitic worms, plant defense proteins etc. These proteins are very allergenic, which is the point of the insects having them. In constrast, the spider toxins are typically small, neurotoxic peptides. I'm not aware of any specific allergenic response consistently attributed to spider venoms. In constrast, the irritating hairs that flicked off of the abdomen of the tarantulas from the Americas can cause significant local effects, with very very itchy hives being a common reaction. "

And theraphosid venom are neurotoxin and its not similar to bee venom. As for why bee venom cause allergic reactions - see Brian G. Fry´s reply above."

 

[Windchaser]

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=38238 << READ this

Is this the right thread? I don't see how that thread relates to this topic.

 

[mimic58]

just how easy mites spread, i thought it may have a reference to W/c's passing something across

 

[Windchaser]

just how easy mites spread, i thought it may have a reference to W/c's passing something across

Could be, but I thought the other thread was stating that there were mites in one T's cage only. Also, there was no mention of how long this person had been keeping that tarantula. That is why I wasn't sure if that indeed was the thread you were referencing.