Teenager Hospitalized by Poisonous Southern Flannel Moth Caterpillar
OutdoorHub Reporters 06.22.18
A Florida teen had to be taken to the hospital after coming in contact with a venomous southern flannel moth caterpillar that caused “the worst pain he ever felt.”
The fifteen-year-old, Logan, was reportedly doing some landscaping with his family over the weekend, when he merely brushed against the caterpillar and instantly felt the painful side effects.
This particular caterpillar is regarded as dangerous because of its venomous spines. Exposure to the caterpillar’s fur-like spines will lead to an immediate skin irritation characterized by a, “grid-like hemorrhagic papular eruption with severe radiating pain.”
The pain has been described by patients as similar to a broken bone or blunt force trauma. The reactions are sometimes localized to the affected area but are often very severe, radiating up a limb and causing burning, swelling, nausea, headache, abdominal distress, rashes, blisters, and sometimes chest pain, numbness, or difficulty breathing.
“He instantly felt a sharp, stinging pain and his arm went numb. Within 5 minutes, he was dizzy, had lost color, was complaining of the worst pain he had ever felt & his eyes weren’t super focused, his mom Andrea Pergola wrote in a public Facebook post that she since deleted.
Pergola said her son’s condition kept getting progressively worse, and her “mom instinct” told her to get him to an emergency room right away.
Upon arriving to the hospital, Logan was administered an IV and began shaking – partially from fear and partially from the venom now inside his body.
“The pain was radiating from his wrist, up his arm & into his shoulder and chest.” She also added that a rash began to spread on his arm and across his chest as well.
Logan battled in the hospital for nearly 7 hours, before finally getting released from the hospital.
“We are home now with meds to keep him comfortable while this garbage runs its course,” Andrea wrote.
“We are native Floridians. We are outside all the time, camping, outside, in the woods. We had no idea this was out there. I would just hate for a small child to pick this up. Logan is healthy and weighs 100 pounds. I know this would hurt a small child even worse than my 15-year-old son.”
