Medical Significance
Both genera have potent tissue-destroying venoms containing the dermonecrotic agent, sphingomyelinase D, which is otherwise found only in a few pathogenic bacteria. Thus, the venom of Sicariidae is highly necrotic in effect, capable of causing lesions (open sores) as large as a US quarter (about one inch or 25mm in diameter). The wounds take a long time to heal and may require skin grafts. If these open wounds get infected there can be serious consequences. Rarely, the venom is carried by the blood stream to internal organs causing systemic effects. The Chilean recluse (Loxosceles laeta), along with the African species of Sicarius, reportedly have a more potent venom, which results in systemic involvement more often.
Read more about this topic: Sicariidae
Famous quotes containing the words medical and/or significance:
“If science ever gets to the bottom of Voodoo in Haiti and Africa, it will be found that some important medical secrets, still unknown to medical science, give it its power, rather than the gestures of ceremony.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“To grasp the full significance of life is the actor’s duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication.”
—Marlon Brando (b. 1924)