Redbacks Leaving Country Seat

THE SUNDAY AGE
Sunday December 11, 1994


THAT scourge of the outback dunny the redback spider may have been forced out, although it remains a hazard to the unwary.

A study of spider bites in central Australia found that 32 people had severe redback bites in and around Alice Springs in 1991-92.

The serious bite rate was 0.36 per 1000 people, the highest yet reported. The study also found more women and fewer men were being bitten by redbacks.

But it seems no one suffered the painful indignity that sometimes goes with seeking relief in an outhouse. The study showed that the legendary redbacks of the outdoor dunny seat seem to be in the decline.

And of all the people treated for redback spider bites at Alice Springs Hospital during the two-year period, not one was bitten on the genitals.

``No genital bites were recorded, probably because outdoor toilets are no longer common," four experts wrote in the latest `Medical Journal of Australia'.

The team found that two-thirds of the patients were women, and 26 needed antivenom.

No deaths from redbacks bites have been reported since antivenom was introduced in 1956.