When Kristin Smith, an elementary education freshman, woke up the morning of Nov. 6, she noticed two pimple-like lesions on her face near her right eye.
By that Friday, the blemishes became more swollen. A day later, Smith could not open her right eye, she said.
Smith said her whole face was swollen and she was sweating profusely. That morning, she blacked out.
Smith is one of two freshmen in Herget Hall who believe a venomous brown recluse spider living in their residence hall bit them.
Doctors confirmed Smith’s bite was from a spider, although they could not be sure what kind.
Smith looked up the symptoms of spider bites and found her symptoms matched the bite of a brown recluse.
Symptoms include the appearance of a small white blister surrounded by a large, congested and swollen area. Within 36 hours, the victim may experience restlessness, fever, chills, nausea, weakness and joint pain. The affected area enlarges, becomes inflamed and the tissue is hard to the touch.
The brown recluse’s bite can be fatal because the spider’s venom destroys cell membranes in the wound area, gradually exposing underlying tissues. Within 24 hours, the bite site can erupt into a volcanic lesion. However, fatalities are rare.
“Everybody I talk to says I’m lucky to be alive,” Smith said.
When Smith reported what happened to Residential Life, it did not respond with alarm.
“They looked at me like I was stupid,” she said.
Smith said it was five days before anyone came to spray her room, and they only sprayed her room and her neighbor’s room, instead of the whole building.
“I’m kind of nervous I’m going to get bit again,” she said.
Todd Clark, Residential Life associate director, said its insect and bug abatement is contracted out to Terminix.
“Their response time is out of our hands,” he said.
Clark said before they can introduce a new chemical to a mass living community such as a residence hall, exterminators must take into account how that substance may affect others’ health, such as allergies. Therefore, delays are to be expected.
Ashley Smith, a communication disorders freshman and Kristin Smith’s neighbor in Herget, also was bitten on her leg days before. She found a web in the window of her room, Ashley said.
She said the bite on her left leg did not alarm her at first, but when her leg began to swell, her friends encouraged her to go to the infirmary.
Smith said the infirmary confirmed it was a spider bite and gave her four antibiotics, which cleared up the infection.
However, Ashley returned to the doctor Tuesday when new bumps appeared on her left leg.
She said the doctors will not know if the bumps are the result of new bites or a relapse from the previous bite for another 24 hours.
In the meantime, Ashley said she does not feel great about sleeping in her room.
Clark said while Residential Life takes all precautions to control insects by treating residence halls regularly, spraying the entire building is unnecessary when the problem appears localized. He also said other hall residents have not been notified about the incident for the same reason.
No other residents have reported spider sightings, Clark said.
Kristin said even if the threat is not as bad as it thinks, Residential Life needs to take more action.
“Even if it’s not a brown recluse, there’s something biting people in here,” she said.