ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 18, 1996 TAG: 9606180049
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Health Notes
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
A child complaining of stomach ache can be a real problem because it's difficult to tell if the kid is bellyaching or really has a belly ache.
But there are ways to get at the difference, suggests a pediatrician who has lent her name to still another medicine for children's tummy problems.
The new nonprescription medicine is Children's Mylanta Upset Stomach Relief from Johnson & Johnson. It comes in bubble gum and fruit punch flavors and is being marketed for youngsters ages 2 to 11. The ingredient is calcium, much like the heartburn tablets we adults pop, so there's nothing mysterious about it. The mystery is deciding when to give it or similar products such as Pepto-Bismol.
A good measure of the situation is how focused a child is on the stomach hurt. Tell a child who refuses to go to school because he has a stomach ache that he can stay home and go to the doctor, and the kid generally will choose school.
Also, children with ordinary stomach upset complain a lot and loudly. But they might forget about the ache if they're given something interesting to do, says Dr. Paula Elbirt-Bender, assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
Here is what Elbirt-Bender suggests you ask a child to help gauge the seriousness of a stomach problem:
n``Point to where the stomach hurts."
n``What have you eaten?''
n``Tell me about the pain. Does it hurt just one time and stop? Does it feel like something heavy on your tummy?''
n``If you lie in different positions, does it feel better?''
n``Do you have a headache or a sore throat? Do you hurt anywhere else?''
If the answers sound like plain old indigestion, then treat the complaint with medicine or even a soda drink and crackers. However, if a child has a hard, bloated stomach, is vomiting and has a fever or is excessively tired or dehydrated, he should be taken to the doctor immediately. And if you have any doubt, call the doctor.
These questions and guidelines are also good for adult stomach aches.
Spiders and bites
Is the country's meanest spider, the brown recluse, in the Roanoke Valley? It could be, but it likely rode into town on someone's belongings. The spider has a range from Kansas and Missouri to Texas and west to California.
Virginia is not one of its natural habitats, says Eric Day, insect expert at Virginia Tech.
However, a Roanoke Valley woman said a child visiting at her Roanoke Valley apartment complex recently was bitten by a brown recluse and lost a great deal of flesh from his arm as a result. The child, who lives in Richmond and was treated there, apparently was bitten while on the playground.
The brown recluse is not generally an outdoor spider, said Day, who oversees the insect identification lab at Virginia Tech. A variety of spiders could cause a similar reaction, he said.
Once a wound is infected, the tissue breaks down.
Day has seen only two brown recluse spiders in a decade, one in Floyd County and one in Williamsburg. Both were traced to furniture shipments from Texas.
The brown recluse is also called a violin spider because it is elongated, has spindly legs and a tiny violin-shaped marking on the front segment of its body, according to the article. They are members of the Loxosceles genus, which has some of the most toxic venom in the United States. The spiders prefer dark, warm places such as woodpiles, inner bed coverings and dusty corners.
The yellow sac is another nasty spider, but it's also rare around here, Day said.
"I have not had one sent to lab, although I did collect one once in a Virginia Beach motel," he said.
Day thinks the news media often makes spider encounters sound more frequent than they are. If you are bitten by a spider, however, try to capture it so it can be identified. And always watch the bite for infection or anything usual, he said.
To control the insects, use the "spider-by-spider" approach, Day said.
Spray only where and when you see one. If it's indoors, you might consider catching it and putting it outside, he said. Some people think it's bad luck to kill spiders.
You can contact Sandra Brown Kelly at (800)346-1234, ext. 393 outside the Roanoke Valley, or at 981-3393 in the valley, or by e-mail to biznews@roanoke.infi.net.
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