A five-year-old girl has become the second child to be taken to hospital after suffering
a suspected brown recluse spider bite in just two weeks.
Lucy Cannon, of Framlingham, Suffolk, was left with a large oozing scab after being
bitten by one of ‘dozens’ of arachnids that had taken over the family home.
It came a fortnight after eight-year-old girl Abbie Kinnaird was left with a gaping hole
caused by another suspected brown recluse 35 miles away in Colchester, Essex.
The bites have sparked fears of a deadly arachnid invasion, with Lucy bitten while she was asleep
on November 13, two weeks after Abbie’s bite on October 28.
Lucy’s mother Sarah Cannon claimed she saw unusual-looking spiders in the home in the
weeks before the bite, but thought nothing of it and hoovered them up.
However, after Lucy was bitten, the 31-year-old mother-of-two had to take her to hospital
after developing cellulitis and she was kept in for three days.
Carer Ms Cannon said: ‘It’s been awful to watch Lucy go through this, it’s been
really scary.
It just feels like it’s one thing after another, which is quite draining.
‘When I saw the story about Abbie Kinnaird the similarities between her and Lucy struck me.
It started exactly the same way and the injury looks identical.’
Ms. Cannon said Lucy’s bite – which ‘still looks yucky’ now - appeared as a small blister-like
mark, which was itchy but then became sore and inflamed.
Over the next few days the redness around the bite got bigger so Ms. Cannon took Lucy
to a doctor who gave her an anaesthetic cream and a course of antibiotics.
Later that week the bite had not improved, a black mark appeared and Lucy was shivering,
so Ms. Cannon took her back to a doctor who advised going to hospital.
She said: ‘I was worried that it was blood poisoning.
When they suggested I should take her to hospital I was quite panicky, it was all really scary.’
Lucy was admitted to Ipswich Hospital and hooked up to an antibiotic drip which was
administered every eight hours to try to flush out the infection.
Ms. Cannon said: ‘At first they said she might need surgery and a skin graft but we
were lucky as she accidentally knocked her hand at the hospital which seems to have released
a lot of the poison.
‘At one point she had a fast heartbeat and her temperature was very high - hitting 40
Celsius - but she was soon well enough to come off the drip and take oral antibiotics.’
Since leaving hospital Lucy has weekly check-ups with the nurse to check the infection doesn’t return.
Ms. Cannon said: ‘She would cry because of the drip and is now a bit anxious at follow-up
visits and says it’s fine even if it’s not because she’s scared they’re going
to put another needle in.
‘We need to keep an eye on it and won’t be done with the weekly visits until after
the new year.
‘We are now more aware the spiders are there - but I try not to think about them too much
because if I did I wouldn’t sleep at night.
‘Before this happened if Lucy saw a spider she would go and get a glass to release it
outside - she’s very independent like that - but now she won’t go near one.’
Abbie’s mother Hayley, 35, said she was surprised by how similar Lucy’s injuries
were to her daughter’s, adding: ‘I was really shocked when I saw the pictures.
‘At first I thought they were of Abbie’s hand, it’s just really weird to see a near-identical
injury like that, right down to the black bit in the middle.
‘I would urge any parents concerned about a bite to get it checked out straight away,
and if you’re not happy to get a second opinion.
I’m glad I did.’
An East Suffolk District Council spokesman said: ‘We have not been made aware of any
such incidents.’
The spokesman said that it is not an Environmental Health issue, so ‘the District Council would
not expect to be involved or made aware’.
However a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman said: ‘Sightings
of non-native spiders should be reported to local councils’ environmental health teams.’
National Health Service England have been approached for comment, while Public Health
England said the matter was not something they would comment on.