Girl in Mangystau spends 10 days in intensive care after contact with a black widow spider

Tengrinews.kz — In Mangystau, a two-year-old girl was admitted to intensive care following an incident involving a venomous black widow spider (karakurt), according to Lada.kz.

According to available information, while the children were playing, another young child gave her the spider, and the girl may have swallowed it. A six-year-old child who was nearby said it was a spider. The girl’s condition later deteriorated sharply, and she required emergency medical care.

She was transferred from the district hospital to the regional children’s hospital by medical aviation. According to Mereke Bekbayev, head of the Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Department, doctors held a telemedicine consultation with their district colleagues before the transfer and discussed further treatment.

Doctors decided to administer anti-karakurt serum and urgently transfer the patient to the regional center. The girl was transported on a ventilator accompanied by an intensive care team.

Upon admission, her condition was assessed as extremely serious. The girl was in a first-degree coma. Doctors immediately began intensive therapy, held a medical consultation and arranged additional consultations with national-level specialists. During treatment, anti-karakurt serum was administered twice.

The girl spent 10 days in intensive care. Throughout this period, doctors and nurses monitored her condition around the clock and adjusted her treatment. Her condition gradually improved: she emerged from the coma, began breathing independently and was taken off the ventilator.

After her condition stabilized, she was transferred to a specialized ward, where she spent another four days. She was then discharged home.