A CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY OF LOXOSCELES SPIDER ENVENOMING INSANTA-CATARINA, BRAZIL

A clinical and epidemiological study of 267 cases of envenomation by L oxosceles spp. (loxoscelism), notified to Centro de Informacoes Toxico logicas de Florianopolis (Santa Catarina State, Brazil), was conducted between January 1985 and December 1995. Most of the incidents occurre d along the coast of the mid-southern region of the state, during the warmest months. L. laeta and L. intermedia were identified as the caus ative agents. Cutaneous loxoscelism was clinically diagnosed in 232 (8 6.9%) patients with local pain (86.5%), oedema (80.5%), hyperaemia (79 .8%) and necrosis (56.9%). Cutaneous-visceral loxoscelism was detected in 35 patients (13.1%) with intravascular haemolysis, manifested by j aundice (68.6%), oliguria (45.7%), dark urine (28.6%), haemorrhage (25 .7%), anuria (8.6%) and shock (2.9%), besides the cutaneous effects. S pecific antivenom was given to 125 patients (46.8%) and only 8(6.5%) h ad mild reactions. Acute renal failure was observed in 17 cases (6.4%) ; 4 patients (1.5%) died, all of whom were children under 14 years old .