Epidemiology of Scorpion Envenomation in the State of Ceará, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

This report is a retrospective study of the epidemiology of scorpion sting cases recorded from 2007 to 2013 in the State of Ceará, Northeastern Brazil. Data were collected from the Injury Notification Information System database of the Health Department of Ceará. A total of 11,134 cases were studied and distributed across all the months of the studied period and they occurred mainly in urban areas. Victims were predominantly 20-29 years-old women. Most victims were bitten on the hand; and received medical assistance within 1-3 hours after being bitten. Cases were mostly classified as mild and progressed to cure. Scorpion envenomation in Ceará is an environmental public health problem that needs to be monitored and controlled throughout the year.

Clinical and epidemiological aspects of scorpionism in the interior of the state of Bahia, Brazil: retrospective epidemiological study

“…The process of urbanization has been reported to be a factor contributing towards scorpionism. This was also observed in the present study, since 94.8% of the accidents occurred in urban zones, as seen in other studies conducted in different regions of Brazil 7,12 and in Sudan. 13 The urbanization of scorpionism has been explained as being due to disordered urban growth, the inadequacies of infrastructure and the environmental imbalance.…”

“…These clinical characteristics are similar to those found in studies conducted in different Brazilian states 12,20 and in regions of Iran 21 and Saudi Arabia. 22 In general, cases with mild symptoms require simple therapeutic measures such as administration of analgesics and antihistamines.…”

“…19 In the present study, it was found that the upper limbs were the body segments most affected, similar to what was found in other studies. 9,12,18 This result shows that scorpion bites usually occur while household chores are being done, 8,12 or when the victims are putting on their clothes or shoes, 12 or while working in environments that are considered to provide suitable shelters for these animals, without using personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves and boots.…”

Avaliação do uso de soros antivenenos na emergência de um hospital público regional de Vitória da Conquista (BA), Brasil

“…Similarly, in the warmer and wetter months, the increased activity of rural workers exposes them to contact with snakes 25,26 . Also, higher temperatures favor the mating and reproduction of scorpions, snakes, and spiders 3,44,47,50 .…”

“…Scorpionism and ophidism are the main envenomations, and these events are considered neglected diseases by the World Health Organization 1 , especially in tropical and subtropical countries or developing economies [2][3][4][5][6] .…”