After several days of fighting for his life, a 51-year-old man died this Friday in Paraguay because of the bite of a spider known as “black widow”. According to specialists, fatal cases in these types of situations do not occur frequently, but they can occur.
Alberto Oviedo Garay spent his last days hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of the Migone Sanatorium due to complications in various organs. Following the venom of the arachnid, the patient suffered severe kidney damage and had to undergo emergency surgery to remove his arm.
Oviedo died while waiting for an antidote that because it was not for sale in Paraguay, he had to move from Argentina, but that he did not arrive on time.
The news became public after the publication that Gabriela Oviedo, daughter of the deceased, made on her social networks, where she asked the authorities of the Paraguayan Ministry of Health to collaborate in the management to obtain the necessary drug to save the life of her father. “He was a healthy man with no underlying diseases,” Gabriela explained after his death.
The bite of this type of arachnid has neurotoxic actions and, among other things, there are cardiovascular manifestations, intense pain, kidney disease and muscle inflammation.
In this sense, Dr. Salvador González stressed that the only way to avoid being victims of a poisonous insect is to take into account that it may be present, especially on days of intense heat where they are looking for humid and cool places. “If you are going to do any work or cleaning, always wear gloves and be aware that any type of poisonous insect may appear,” he said.
According to the doctor, fatal cases in this type of situation “are not very frequent, but they can occur.” “Mortality can be 1 to 6 out of every 100 bites”, He added.