A 48-year-old man died while in the coastal region of Ilia prefecture, in the western part of the Peloponnese, where he was vacationing, with reports suggesting his death might be related to a spider bite. Spider bites requiring medical attention in Greece are extremely rare, with only two known species found in the country considered as venomous.
According to local media reports, the man, hailing from the south-central city of Livadia, was bitten by a venomous brown spider on his thigh while on holiday last Sunday.
After the pain in his thigh intensified over the next two days and he noticed severe swelling the man visited an orthopedic doctor for treatment, who immediately referred him to the hospital, judging his condition to be serious.
Multiple tests in the hospital revealed no alarming signs. However, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he was intubated before eventually dying.
The exact cause of his death remains unclear. According to the hospital director, Spyros Politis, more light will be shed on the cause of death after a scheduled autopsy, which is expected on Friday, along with toxicology tests.
As he mentioned, speaking to a local media outlet, nothing has been found in the victim’s blood as yet, except that it was indeed a spider bite and not a snake bite, which is more common.
The brown recluse, also known as the Mediterranean recluse spider (Loxosceles rufescens), is known to secrete a necrotic venom, and is similar to other recluse spiders. Their bites sometimes require medical attention, although according to experts, in 90% of the cases the victims manage to heal without medical intervention.
The director of the surgical ward at the Pyrgos Hospital, Dr. Angeliki Sarantopoulou, speaking to another media outlet said there is no antidote for this species’ bite, and patients in many cases are completely unaware that they have been bitten.
Spider species in Greece are typically small and non-venomous.
