Epidemiological and Clinical Aspects of Scorpion Sting among Children in South Part of Iran

Abstract

Scorpion sting is regarded as one of the most medically-related problems in south part of Iran. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological aspects, clinical symptom and stinging agents among scorpion sting victims referred to Children Hospital in Hormozgan province. A cross-sectional study was conducted which involved all patients who had been stung by scorpion retaining scorpion sample at the time of admission. This study was conducted from May, 2014 to November, 2015. Data was gathered using the researcher made questionnaire and patient`s fills. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 20, using descriptive and analytical statistics such as frequency, percentage, Chi-square and t-test. A total of 191 patients with age ranging from 1 month to 14 years (Mean= 6 ± 2) were studied. The most frequent patients were in the age group 6-10 years old. In this study 103 (53.9) were males and 88 (46.1) females. 169 (88.5%) stung cases were from rural areas and 22 (11.5) were reported from urban areas of the county. Most of the stings occurred indoors in rural areas. Most patients, 148 (80.6%), had been admitted to emergency department within 1-6 hour after scorpion sting. The most prevalence of scorpion stings occurred on foot, 74 (38.7%), and hand, 61 (31.9%). Seventeen species belonging to two families Hemiscorpidae and Buthidae were identified. The main species of scorpion responsible for stinging was Hemiscorpius acanthocercus 41 (21.5%) followed by Compsobuthus persicus, 37 (19.5), and H. enischnochela, 35 (18.4). The most common clinical symptoms observed in patients were pain (56.5%), erythema (39.8%) and burning sensation (33.5%). The findings of this study, highlights the role of age, gender, residence location and scorpion species in envenomation. Therefore, health providers are recommended to consider these factors and the interference of these elements to prevent and care scorpion envenomation in children under 14 years old.

Epidemiological Characteristics of Scorpionism in West Azerbaijan Province, Northwest of Iran

“…Our results showed that many scorpion stings occurred during the hot months of May to September with a peak in August. The results of some studies on scorpion envenomation in Iran, in this case are similar to our results that the peak of scorpion stings occurs in hot month of the year (16)(17)(18)(19)(20). This can be for two reasons: In the hot months of the year the scorpions are more active and also people's activities such as agriculture, gardening and other activities are increasing.…”

“…Our results showed that over four last years (2014–2017), a total of 2718 cases of scorpion stings have been recorded from West Azerbaijan. In this region, the age group of 25 to 39 is more at risk and the health system in community education should address this age group, while some studies have suggested that most of the victims of scorpionism are younger than 25 years old ( 18 , 19 , 28 ).…”

“…Nearly 50000 cases of scorpion stings have been reported annually from Iran (3,15). Some studies on scorpionism in Iran shows: the most cases of scorpion stings occurred in rural area in summer season (16)(17)(18)(19)(20). The age groups of 10-24 and 25-44 years old are more at risk (17,(20)(21)(22).…”

Epidemiology of Scorpion Sting in Southwestern Iran Over Five Years

“…The gender distribution showed that 46% of victims were women, which is consistent with the study by Amiri et al (16) and Ebrahimi et al (15). Our findings about the location of the sting cases were consistent with data from Shahi et al (19), Talebian and Doroudgar (20), and Bennett et al (21). The results of the present study showed that about 54% occurred indoors.…”

Clinical Manifestations of Compsobuthus Persicus Scorpion Envenomation in Southern Iran

“…So far, 11 scorpions belonging to Compsobuthus species have been reported from the southern areas of Iran. These species are found in Bushehr, Fars, and Hormozgan provinces [5,23,24]. This scorpion genus belongs to the Buthidae family, the color of which is bright to dark yellow and 28-37 mm in length (Figure 1) [18,21].…”