Envenomation caused by Rhopalurus amazonicus Lourenço, 1986 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) in Pará State, Brazil

Fuentes-Silva, Deyanira; Santos-Jr, Alfredo P.; Oliveira, João Samuel Meira de

doi:10.1186/1678-9199-20-52

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Among the local symptoms of T. silvestris envenomation, pain at the sting site was the most common, followed by paresthesia, erythema and edema. These results are similar to those described for other Brazilian scorpions, both for the species of minor medical relevance – such as T. pusillus [ 14 ] and Rhopalurus amazonicus [ 20 ] – and the ones important to public health – as T. obscurus , T. serrulatus, T. bahiensis and T. stigmurus [ 12 , 14 , 20 – 23 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Scorpionism by Tityus silvestris in eastern Brazilian Amazon

Coelho

Ishikawa

Santos

et al. 2016

J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis

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BackgroundScorpionism is a serious public health problem in Brazil. Although cases of envenomation by scorpions are frequent in Brazil, Tityus silvestris – found throughout the Amazon region – is considered of minor medical significance and with only a few descriptions in the literature. This article aims to describe for the first time the epidemiological characteristics and clinical manifestations of scorpion stings by T. silvestris that occurred in eastern Brazilian Amazon.MethodsA prospective and observational study was carried out on 13 confirmed cases of T. silvestris envenomation registered from 2007 to 2011 in the cities of Belém and Ananindeua, Pará state, Brazil.ResultsThe stings occurred mainly during daytime, at domiciliary environment, and the scorpions were found in clothing, fruits or vegetables. Envenomation was more frequent in the age group between 21 and 30 years old, upper limbs were more affected and medical aid was usually provided within two hours. Men and women were equally affected. Regarding severity, ten patients were classified as Class I and three patients as Class II according to the Scorpion Consensus Expert Group. Local manifestations were present in all patients, being pain the most common symptom. Mild systemic manifestations including nausea, vomiting, somnolence, malaise and prostration were observed in three victims. Symptomatic treatment of pain was offered to all patients, and only one received specific antivenom. All victims had a favorable outcome.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report the systemic symptomatology of envenomation by T. silvestris in the Brazilian Amazon, highlighting the medical relevance of the species in this region. Further research on the venom and clinical manifestations of envenomation by T. silvestris should be conducted in order to verify the relevance of this species to public health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Scorpionism by Tityus silvestris in eastern Brazilian Amazon

Coelho

Ishikawa

Santos

et al. 2016

J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis

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“… 50 Amazonian savannah Under rocks, wood barks and fallen trunks. 19 [ 66 , 67 ] T . ( Archaeotityus ) bastosi Lourenço, 1984 Dark yellow background densely covered with dark reddish-brown variegated spots.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 D-F) [ 113 ]. During this stage of life, T. metuendus can be widely detected in terra firme forest and in rural and urban areas of the Amazon [ 64 , 66 ]. Juveniles scorpions of T. metuendus ( Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scorpion species of medical importance in the Brazilian Amazon: a review to identify knowledge gaps

Martins¹,

Santos

Procópio

et al. 2021

J. Venom. Anim. Toxins incl. Trop. Dis

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Scorpionism is a relevant medical condition in Brazil. It is responsible for most accidents involving venomous animals in the country, which leads to severe symptoms that can evolve to death. In recent years, an increase of almost 50% in the incidence of scorpionism has been observed in the Northern Region, where the highest severity of envenoming has been notified since the beginning of the 21 st century. This review aims to provide an in-depth assessment of public data and reports on symptoms and epidemiology of envenoming, ecological aspects of scorpions, and characterization of venoms and toxins to access the gaps that need to be filled in the knowledge of the scorpion species of medical importance from the Brazilian Amazon. A systematic search using the string words “Amazon” and “scorpion” was performed on 11 databases. No restriction on date, language or status of the publication was applied. Reports not related to the Brazilian Amazon were excluded. Therefore, 88 studies remained. It is shown that populations of scorpions of medical importance, even of the same species, may present significant toxic variations peculiar to some regions in the Brazilian Amazon, and commercial scorpion antivenoms were not able to shorten the intensity and duration of neurological manifestations in patients stung by T. silvestris, T. apiacas or T. obscurus . It is also highlighted that the toxins responsible for triggering these alterations have not been elucidated yet and this is a fruitful field for the development of more efficient antivenoms. Furthermore, the geographic distribution of scorpions of the genus Tityus in the Brazilian Amazon was revised and updated. The cumulative and detailed information provided in this review may help physicians and scientists interested in scorpionism in the Brazilian Amazon.

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“…Compsobuthus matthiesseni) was identified as a scorpion that regularly stings humans (Dehghani et al, 2009), but no data are available on typical envenomation symptoms, leading to the conclusion that stings by these scorpions lead to mild or inconspicuous manifestations. In South America, stings by scorpions of the genus Rhopalurus are scarcely registered but available cases classified only mild manifestations (Fuentes-Silva et al, 2014). A comprehensive study on scorpion envenomations in Australia comprised several stings caused by Lychas species.…”

Section: Genera Apistobuthus Compsobuthus Lychas Microtityus Odonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dangerous arachnids—Fake news or reality?

Hauke

Herzig

2017

Toxicon

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The public perception of spiders and scorpions is skewed towards the potential harm they can inflict in humans, despite recent scientific evidence that arachnid venom components might be useful as bioinsecticides or even human therapeutics. Nevertheless, arachnids are becoming more popular as pets in Europe, America and Asia, raising the question for regulatory agencies in these regions as to whether they need to take measurements to protect their citizens. In order to decide upon the necessary regulatory steps, they first need to determine which arachnids are actually dangerous to humans. This review therefore provides an overview of the current literature on verified bites and stings from spiders and scorpions with the aim of assessing their potential danger for human health. As a guideline, we also provide a list of those arachnid genera that we consider as potentially dangerous, which includes 10 spider and 11 scorpion genera. The arachnid genera classified as dangerous comprise less than a quarter of all extant scorpion species and only 0.5% of all spiders species, with the actual number most likely being much lower than that, as not all species in those genera might turn out to pose an actual threat for humans. In conclusion, we found that only a small percentage of scorpions and a minute percentage of all spiders can be considered as potentially dangerous to humans. While in some countries of origin the high incidence of envenomations by dangerous arachnids can result in a serious problem to the health system, we assessed the risk that the same species pose when kept as pets under controlled maintenance conditions as significantly lower.

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Envenomation caused by Rhopalurus amazonicus Lourenço, 1986 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) in Pará State, Brazil

Cited by 5 publications

References 9 publications

Scorpionism by Tityus silvestris in eastern Brazilian Amazon

Scorpionism by Tityus silvestris in eastern Brazilian Amazon

Scorpion species of medical importance in the Brazilian Amazon: a review to identify knowledge gaps

Dangerous arachnids—Fake news or reality?

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