She was taken to hospital in serious condition. She had... black widow venom in her eye.

Initially, the patient complained of burning and swelling in both the upper and lower eyelids of her left eye. Doctors also noticed severe swelling of the conjunctiva, the delicate membrane that covers the white of the eye and the inside of the eyelids.

Within a few minutes, the woman's condition worsened. The swelling increased so much that the eyelid almost completely covered the eye. Systemic symptoms also began: neck pain, nausea, and after about two hours - muscle cramps in the lower parts of the body and tingling in the extremities.

How did the spider get into the woman's eye?

According to the woman, shortly before the symptoms appeared, she and her husband noticed a large black spider in the shed. The man determined it was a black widow (Latrodectus hesperus species) and decided to kill it with a hammer. The blow was so strong that the spider's body was shattered - and fragments flew in all directions. One of them hit the woman's eye.

Doctors suspect that a small amount of venom entered the patient's bloodstream, likely through the mucous membrane of her eye, causing a range of neurological and systemic symptoms. The main component of black widow venom is alpha-latrotoxin, a neurotoxin that attacks the nervous system of mammals, including humans.

Strong body reaction. But not fatal.

In most cases, contact with black widow venom does not end tragically – but it can cause long-term and very painful symptoms. According to data from 2023, only 1.4 percent of more than 23,000 cases of bites by Latrodectus spiders required life-saving treatment.

At the hospital, the woman was given 50 mg of diphenhydramine, an antihistamine, which brought quick relief from the swelling in her eye. Doctors also recommended calcium gluconate, a standard treatment for black widow venom. However, the patient refused further treatment, declaring that she could cope with her symptoms without pharmacological intervention.

Three hours after coming into contact with the venom, the woman was discharged home with eye drops containing the steroid hydrocortisone. She was also given the antibiotic neomycin to prevent infections.

At a follow-up visit more than a week later, the patient reported that the swelling had subsided in about 48 hours, but the redness of the eye had persisted for five days. The abdominal, leg, and neck cramps had persisted for three days, and the nausea and body tremors had continued for about a week.

Why is this case so unusual?

Typically, black widow toxins enter the human body through a bite. In this case, however, a medical report indicates, all that was needed was for a piece of the spider's body to enter the eye. Although the presence of a venom gland in that part has not been confirmed, previous studies have shown that even the soft tissues of the black widow's body can be toxic.

Both 19th-century and 1970s studies showed that body fragments and eggs of Latrodectus spiders can trigger a strong reaction in other organisms – including mammals.

Doctors warn that any contact with a black widow, regardless of whether it involves a live spider, its fragments or eggs, carries a potential risk.

Read also: Horror Hotel Room. Scientist Finds Dangerous Spiders Read also: Cannibal Spiders Don't Prey on Their Siblings, Even When They're Starving. Their Name Is Justified