Recluse bite in Detroit?

@The Snark what do you think the nature of illness is here?

With Michigan being outside of the range, it would be very unlikely to be a recluse bite. Also, this seems different than what a medically significant recluse bite is described as.

It could be a different species of recluse. But that was the morning right after the bite. It looks a lot worse now today.

this is MRSA.

any bite can cause this. staph is anaerobic and thrives beneath fingernails. this is moreso likely a mosquito bite that got infected after he scratched it.

In their sleep? The hospital even ran biopsies and tests, and they even said it was a spider bite.

@Geb Arachnia Whitney doctors have a bad reputation for blaming things as spider bites. Because they are outside of the range, Found no spider, and have multiple necrotic lesions forming, I would say it’s not a recluse bite. @Smokehound714 has a good point though. Any bite can cause this if infected. I’m not a doctor, so I can’t diagnose this.

@NYAN I took that into consideration already. The lady has all the symptoms of a severe reaction to a recluse bite. She felt it happen in her sleep but thought nothing of it, then when she woke up, a big red blotch appeared which rapidly exacerbated into necrosis. I don't know about you, but when I saw mrsa, it looked more like giant necrotic boils with a white center. I know mosquitoes aren't going to be able to crawl under the sheets to inflict a bite, and I know that bananas and other fruits often have spider passengers. I'm not saying it's L. Reclusa but it definitely looks like the handywork of cytotoxic venom at play, with her feeling sick, the center of the wound looking more purple than the rest, spreading over the entirety of the infected area. She say's her leg hurts throughout, not directly at the site of affliction. This screams cytotoxin, as she lives in a rather sanitary environment from what I've been told by her brother.

How often are you going to find the exact spider that bit you in your sleep, especially if it was a recluse? Their namesake habit of hiding really well explains that question. We don't have any other venomous creatures in Michigan capable of inflicting a bite like this besides the yellow sac spider, and the occasional recluse in fruit shipments. It's far more likely to have been bitten by a yellow sac spider or stray recluse spider in your sleep on your calf under thick blankets rather than getting bitten by a mosquito or other blood sucker at this time of the year in Michigan. Spiders are seeking warmth and shelter at this time. And, if it were bed bugs or fleas, she would have bites everywhere, and so would her kids, so I don't think it's that either. Realistically, the only time you are going to catch mrsa is if you work at a hospital, or you are institutionalized, both of which she disqualifies from.

Spiders don’t bite people for no reason. It happens when the spider becomes trapped against the person’s skin. You find a squished spider in bed because you may roll over and crush it or something similar. Brown recluse spiders don’t go and climb into people’s beds, bite them and run away usually. Yellow sac spiders having necrotic venom is pretty debatable also. There’s a host of medical conditions besides spider bites which case necrotic wounds. It’s extremely improbable being she lives in Michigan.

When a spider gets trapped beneath a blanket and a person's skin, They aren't usually crushed. If the person were to roll over on it, that'd be another story, but because of the bite location, I would think it happened when the person was laying on the side, in a relaxed fetal position with the blanket in contact with the side of the calf in question. Spiders, sicaridae in general, have pretty tough exoskeletons and are not so easily crushed. You would have to roll over onto it, but even then, you would still have to crush it between your torso for it to be completely dispatched. There's to great a weight distribution on that area of the leg to fully crush it. I'm on the spiders side, but I also have to look at the evidence in it's entirety, not just the fact that the recluse is not native to Michigan. Brazilian wandering spiders arrive on our shores all the time when we buy bananas at the store. We shouldn't be so quick to exclude something very likely to be the cause, simply on the basis of being non-native.

For what it's worth...
the only time I have ever been bitten by a spider is by a Cheiracanthium sp., likely inclusum, that I rolled over on in bed. I found the squashed spider in my bed and that is how I know. The bite was on my outer left arm, just above the elbow.
I had a very similar reaction as illustrated here and had to get antibiotics for it. Lots of spiders can cause a severe reaction in some people.