Infection after spider bite leads to month in hospital
Palmerston North real estate agent Andy Stewart has spent a month in hospital being treated for a bacterial infection after a suspected white-tailed spider bite.
Stewart was on holiday in the South Island on his Harley-Davidson for the Burt Munro rally when the first sign of trouble arose.
He felt something bite him on the chest under his riding jacket.
He found no wasp or bee or sting, just a crushed insect of some sort, and attributed the problem to a white-tailed spider.
Despite some basic first aid, some cream and an antihistamine, the bite became sore and red, and he tried to pop it like a pimple to get rid of the pus.
Not imagining that the bite could cause any problems, he carried on down the South Island to Invercargill for four nights, then on to Queenstown.
Shifting his bike, he felt pain in his left shoulder, which he put down to an old injury and did not connect to the spot on his chest.
Stewart carried on, admitting that the ride over the Crown Range Road was uncomfortable. He even popped into Greymouth Hospital to see if he could get his stiff shoulder strapped up.
“People have asked me how I managed to ride. Well, I probably should not have.”
A self-professed workaholic, his sights were set on getting home, to the office, and to a full Sunday of hosting open homes despite his shoulder being three times its normal size.
After the fourth open home, his right leg, which had suffered a clot years before, gave way under him, massively swollen.
Still, Stewart waited until the next day to call an ambulance, and arrived at Palmerston North Hospital critically ill.
“I was informed on day one that this severe poisoning can affect vital organs such as kidneys, liver, heart and lungs. “It was a really close call.”
The cause of his illness was not specifically the white-tailed spider, which does not produce venom that would eat flesh, but the staphylococcus infection that got under his skin and started spreading around his body.
Stewart had a team of five doctors involved in designing his treatment, and he has nothing but praise for the hospital staff who looked after him.
He had two general anaesthetics – one to insert drains to flush the shoulder, and one for his leg. He had another procedure to check that there was no infection lurking behind his heart.
And he has had lashings of antibiotics, which he will be on for about six months.
In hospital, Stewart has lost a lot of weight, and still cannot walk.
He said he wanted to tell his story to highlight dangers people were not aware of. “I didn’t realise the magnitude of what was happening. I’m used to just carrying on.”
He said he would have sought medical help earlier if he had known how ill he might become.
“I’m ex-army, and thought I was really fit.
I never thought something could floor me like this.
“It does not matter how big and tough you are.
“I really do have all the ‘do nots’. People should go to hospital as soon as they can, not eventually.”
His message was repeated by National Poisons Centre medical and clinical toxicologist Bill Boroughf.
He said white-tailed spiders did not produce venom that would cause people more than minor pain and irritation that resolved quickly.
But a bite could make people want to scratch at their skin and introduce the bacteria that caused the problems.
Boroughf said the key lesson was about timely intervention. “Bacterial skin infections should be addressed promptly, so intervention can happen early before bigger issues develop.”