Doctors in Nayarit believe they have saved a 10-month-old baby’s leg after he was bitten by a violin spider.

Kevin Cataño was bitten last weekend in Acaponeta but his condition was not diagnosed until a discoloration of the skin appeared on several parts of his body, which was later diagnosed as necrosis.

At that point doctors at a clinic in Acaponeta began to suspect a spider bite and transferred the child to a hospital in Tepic. As he was being admitted, the boy suffered a seizure and cardiac arrest.

When it was determined that the bite was that of a violin spider doctors sought help from the the Federal Commission for Protection Against Health Risks (Cofepris) to obtain the necessary antidote, which was donated by the pharmaceutical laboratory Silanes.

The boy’s condition started to improve following administration of the antidote and despite an early assessment that the boy’s left leg would have to be amputated, physicians say the limb has been saved.

The only current risk is that he will lose his toes.

Medical staff have done more than treat Kevin for the bite.

Doctor Daniel Balderas said several of his colleagues have not only given their time but the money to pay for the medicine needed in their patient’s treatment.

He said the antidote had been sought in both Mexico and the United States but proved hard to find.

“. . . nobody had it, it’s not being produced. We were told that a synthetic antidote is in development, but for the time being hospitals . . . will have to resort to an alternative corticoid and dapsone-based treatment.”

The violin spider is also known as the brown recluse spider.

Source: El Universal (sp)