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I am citing this web page as the person posting has given reputable references: http://www.quora.com/How-many-people-per-year-die-from-spider-bites-worldwide
I quote that web page here lest it be removed from the web.
Charles Lindsey
Charles Lindsey, Backyard arachnologist, blogger at SpiderHugger.com.
Until a reliable figure comes up, you could begin by investigating the question species by species.
Australian funnel-web species (Atrax, Hadronyche), often dubbed the "world's deadliest spider," and certainly a spider of medical concern: no deaths reported since 1981 [Funnel-web spider bite: a systemic review of recorded clinical cases, Isbister, Gray, et al., Medical Journal of Australia]
South American wandering spiders (Phoneutria), another candidate for "deadliest": only 10 fatalities have ever been recorded in Brazil [A clinico-epidemiological study of bites by spiders of the genus Phoneutria, Bucaretchi, Deus Reinaldo, et al., Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo].
Latrodectus (widow) species: "Only three cases of deaths associated with widow spiders have been reported in the world medical literature. Two were patients from Madagascar bitten by L geometricus species, and the third was a young Greek woman who died of myocarditis after being bitten by an L tredecimguttatus spider. There are no known cases of death resulting from envenomation by the widow species found in the US." [The Treatment of Black Widow Spider Envenomation with Antivenin Latrodectus Mactans: A Case Series, Offerman, Daubert, Clark, Permanente Journal]
Loxosceles (recluse) species: A closer look at recluse bites country by country seems a good idea. But here's one news story that establishes the perspective in the US: "In the past decade, more than 300 people have been struck and killed by lightning in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. During that same time, the grand total of U.S. deaths by brown recluse spider bite: 0ne." In fact, the news story profiles a child who became recluse death number two, a case that's drawn intense attention because of its rarity. [Brown recluse spider bite death of Alabama boy rarer than dying by lightning strike]
So we can see why it's so hard to find that number of spider bite deaths. It's going to be so small that a shift of one or two cases could literally cause the number to double or triple, diminish by half, etc. Keep looking, though--that would be a great figure to have. Just don't expect it to put much of a dent in those terrified, never-investigated tales from the tabloids about people being felled or maimed by mystery spiders (most of them invisible). Like Mulder and unlike Scully, people just Want To Believe.
(I have contacted the author of the quoted blog requesting permission to reprint it here)
I quote that web page here lest it be removed from the web.
Charles Lindsey
Charles Lindsey, Backyard arachnologist, blogger at SpiderHugger.com.
Until a reliable figure comes up, you could begin by investigating the question species by species.
Australian funnel-web species (Atrax, Hadronyche), often dubbed the "world's deadliest spider," and certainly a spider of medical concern: no deaths reported since 1981 [Funnel-web spider bite: a systemic review of recorded clinical cases, Isbister, Gray, et al., Medical Journal of Australia]
South American wandering spiders (Phoneutria), another candidate for "deadliest": only 10 fatalities have ever been recorded in Brazil [A clinico-epidemiological study of bites by spiders of the genus Phoneutria, Bucaretchi, Deus Reinaldo, et al., Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo].
Latrodectus (widow) species: "Only three cases of deaths associated with widow spiders have been reported in the world medical literature. Two were patients from Madagascar bitten by L geometricus species, and the third was a young Greek woman who died of myocarditis after being bitten by an L tredecimguttatus spider. There are no known cases of death resulting from envenomation by the widow species found in the US." [The Treatment of Black Widow Spider Envenomation with Antivenin Latrodectus Mactans: A Case Series, Offerman, Daubert, Clark, Permanente Journal]
Loxosceles (recluse) species: A closer look at recluse bites country by country seems a good idea. But here's one news story that establishes the perspective in the US: "In the past decade, more than 300 people have been struck and killed by lightning in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. During that same time, the grand total of U.S. deaths by brown recluse spider bite: 0ne." In fact, the news story profiles a child who became recluse death number two, a case that's drawn intense attention because of its rarity. [Brown recluse spider bite death of Alabama boy rarer than dying by lightning strike]
So we can see why it's so hard to find that number of spider bite deaths. It's going to be so small that a shift of one or two cases could literally cause the number to double or triple, diminish by half, etc. Keep looking, though--that would be a great figure to have. Just don't expect it to put much of a dent in those terrified, never-investigated tales from the tabloids about people being felled or maimed by mystery spiders (most of them invisible). Like Mulder and unlike Scully, people just Want To Believe.
(I have contacted the author of the quoted blog requesting permission to reprint it here)
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