It may be logical to think that all the symptoms of a spider bite are a direct result of the spiders’s venomosity, but this is not the case. A sting from a medically important spiders does not always result in class 3 or 4 symptoms, and a bite from a non-medically important spider does not always result in class 2 or 3 symptoms.
In order to understand how additional factors influence symptoms severity, consider the following:
When we consider all of these factors, we can appreciate how the symptoms experienced by the patient are not solely a result of the spider itself, there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration. Some of these factors can increase symptom severity while other can decrease symptom severity. Consider the following scenarios. Each patient has been sting by exactly the same spider and received exactly same amount of venom.
64 Year old sedentary male who smokes, has type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure.
2 Year old who was taken to a local hospital immediately after the bite.
35 year old man who is physically fit with no lifestyle diseases.
1 year old Scotty, bitten on the front leg after trying to kill the spider.
The same spider, the same amount of venom, but four very different outcomes. Each example above results in different outcomes because of unique factors for each spider bite. It is important to note that many of these factors are under our control, while other factors are not.
