Three brothers have been hospitalized after letting a venomous black widow spider bite them hoping to turn into Spider-Man. They came across the spider while watching over their sheep in Chayanta, Bolivia. Mother of three brothers aged eight, 10 and 12 went to collect woods when they found black widow on May 14. They prodded it with a stick until the spider bit each one of them wishing to turn into their popular Marvel comic book hero.
Soon after, they began to experience symptoms like muscle pain sweating, fever, and generalized trembling. Their mother found them crying when she returned home. They were immediately taken to Chayanta health center and later shifted to a hospital in Llallagua as their condition did not improve.
According to Virgilio Pietro, Head of Epidemiology of the Health Ministry, they were transferred to a hospital in the Bolivian capital La Paz. The situation improved after they were given serum for the bites and were discharged a week later, as per local outlet Telemundo.
Should be Taken as a Warning Signal
The incident should be taken as a warning by adults that "for children everything is real, films are real, dreams could be real, and they (children) are the hope of our life," Pietro said. The female spider often kills and eats the male one after mating they get their name "black widow". Their bites can be deadly, however, they are rarely fatal for humans.
Spiders like the black widow, their venom is valuable at drug companies. "It's a few million dollars per gram for black widow venom," said Chuck who raise spiders and other venomous creatures in Yarnell, Arizona. Spider's venom is widely used in making drugs for diseases like heart attack, block epilepsy, bladder control, and pain killers, azfamily reported.
