Pediatric epidemiological aspects of scorpionism and report on fatal cases from Tityus stigmurus stings (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in State of Pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Envenomation by scorpion stings is a major public health problem in numerous tropical countries because of its frequent incidence and potential severity. Approximately 1,900 species of scorpions are known in the world, and at least 130 of these have been described in Brazil. Methods: This work reports on 3 child deaths caused by Tityus stigmurus stings and characterizes epidemiological and clinical surveys on pediatric cases of scorpionism recorded in the Centro de Assistência Toxicológica de Pernambuco (Ceatox-PE). Results: Scorpion stings accounted for more than 60% of all cases recorded for venomous animals. The children were from 37 cities of the State of Pernambuco and accounted for 28.8% of the victims treated for scorpion stings, with the highest incidence in the metropolitan area of Recife. Stings occurred throughout the year and slightly increased during the rainy season. Independent of the elapsed time for a prognosis, most cases showed mild symptoms. Three moderate cases that resulted in death featured cardiogenic shock and/or pulmonary edema or severe neurological symptoms. For the fi rst time, death attributed to T. stigmurus was confi rmed by the presence of the scorpion. Conclusions: These results suggest that scorpionism in Pernambuco is a public health problem that needs to be monitored carefully throughout the year by the government.

Spatial temporal study of scorpion envenomation in the state of Sergipe, Brazil

“…Regarding the frequency of scorpion envenomation in relation to accidents with all poisonous animals, similar results were found in other studies in the northeast of Brazil, where scorpions envenomation in Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte States were 60.3% and 65.4%, respectively (ALBUQUERQUE et al, 2013;BARBOSA, 2014). A study conducted in Sergipe by Mesquita et al (2015) found a similar situation (64.79% of cases) using CIATOX data from 2002 to 2012.…”

Clinical consequences of Tityus bahiensis and Tityus serrulatus scorpion stings in the region of Campinas, southeastern Brazil

“…(Freire-Maia et al, 1994;Bucaretchi et al, 1995;Mazzei de D avila et al, 2002;Otero et al, 2004;Guerra et al, 2008;De Roodt et al, 2009;Albuquerque et al, 2013;Benmosbah et al, 2013). The precise reasons for this age-related difference in toxicity remain unclear, although possible explanations include a greater venom dose/body weight ratio in children compared to adults and age-related variations in sensitivity to the venom.…”

“…This species has a wide geographic distribution, from northeastern to southern Brazil, with greatest abundance in the southeast of the country (Brasil e Minist erio da Saúde, 2009). Other clinically relevant species include Tityus stigmurus (northeastern region; Albuquerque et al, 2013), Tityus bahiensis (southeastern region; Bucaretchi et al, 1995;von Eickstedt et al, 1996) and Tityus obscurus (senior synonym to Tityus paraensis and Tityus cambridgei; Fet et al, 2000) in the Amazon basin (Pardal et al, 2005).…”

Comments on Environmental and Sanitary Aspects of the Scorpionism by Tityus trivittatus in Buenos Aires City, Argentina

“…Publications on some species of Tityus describe that accidents occur in regions where high numbers of scorpions can be found in a city [31,63,64,65] through its adaptation to urban environment [18,19,20,26,66,67,68,] or in determinate regions of a country [19,20,26,68,69,70,71,72,73], and accidents in some Brazilian cities could be associated with old constructions [74,75] and in addition postulate the expansion from nuclei in the cities [76]. Although up to date, we have no data to demonstrate the relationship between density of scorpions and accidents, most of these characteristics are shared by Tityus trivittatus in Buenos Aires city.…”