LATRODECTISM IN SOUTHERN FRANCE - A SERIE S OF CASES REPORTED TO THE MARSEILLES-POISON-CENTER

Objectives: Black widows, which belong to the genus Latrodectus, are p articulary dangerous spiders. The clinical syndrome caused by their bi te is known as latrodectism. In Provence and in Corsica, there is a lo cally-found species, Latrodectus mactans tredecimguttatus called <<mal mignate>>. A series of 30 cases were collected by the Marseille Poison centre between 1973 and 1993 inclusive.Results: The cases of poisonin g involved patients bitten in the summer, mostly in Corsica (only 5 of the cases were from Provence) in rural areas. The symptoms were gener ally widespread pain and muscle contractions, sometimes associated wit h neurosomatic symptoms, such as increased sweating, or alterations in the blood pressure or body temperature. On the other hand, local sign s remained benign or were absent, this sometimes causing confusion wit h the diagnosis: in 5 of the cases were surprisingly severe, the outco me of the poisoning was always favourable, using symptomatic treatment including infusions of calcium salts, which combat the effects of tox ins (disturbance of presynaptic ion exchange).