Palermo, a carabiniere dies after being bitten by a violin spider.
Franco Aiello, 52 year old policeman of the Palermo court's escort service, had spent a day in the countryside last Sunday. When he returned home he noticed a redness in the ankle.
On Wednesday he was admitted to the Cervello hospital due to bite of a violin spider. Then the situation worsened.
“Dear Franco – they write friends on Facebook - Everyone will miss you here, memories are the most powerful weapon of all: no one is able to erase them and the strongest ones even survive the time that flees without thinking about the victims it claims. Above all, your sincerity, your way of seeing life and facing the world will be missed; We will miss you as a friend and confidant, as a precious guardian of so many of our secrets."
Is called loxosceles rufescens. It is a rather small spider, which does not exceed 9 mm in body and which can reach a maximum of 4-5 cm with its legs.
It is inconspicuous in appearance, of yellowish-brown colour rather uniform, except for a spot on the prosoma that vaguely resembles the shape of a violin, with the "neck" extending towards the abdomen, from which its common name derives. The legs are long, arranged laterally.
A peculiarity of this spider is also that of having six eyes, rather than eight like the majority of spiders, characteristically arranged in three pairs.
The bite is painless immediately and symptoms appear several hours later. In two thirds of cases the spider inflicts a dry bite or in any case injects a low quantity of venom, causing only moderate soreness and local redness, which passes on its own in a short time without further complications.
Instead, in about one case in three the spider injects its own cytotoxin which, especially in weak or debilitated subjects, can cause loxoscelism, i.e. the formation first of an edema and then of a more or less extensive necrotic ulcer which can last for a few months before healing.
In the event of a confirmed bite, it is always advisable to seek the opinion of a professional Poison Control Center. If possible, it is better to preserve and/or photograph the animal that bit you, even if it was "crushed", to have a sure identification and be able to act in the most appropriate way.
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