Conhecendo os escorpiões: um guia para entender como prevenir os acidentes com escorpiões

Abstract

Accidents with scorpion are an important public health problem, given the ability of some species to cause poisoning in both humans and humans domestic animals. The cases of human poisoning can present different levels of severity, depending on the age group and previous health conditions of the patient while the characteristics of poisoning in domestic animals are poorly known. Yet, the most indicated treatment consists of the application of a multipurpose antiscorpionic serum that it is often ineffective in neutralizing local effects. In addition, the number of accidents with scorpions has increased in recent years, causing more accidents than snakes. Still, due to habitat loss, scorpions have increasingly been found in the urban area. The importance of accidents by venomous animals for public health can be expressed by the more than 200 thousand accidents and almost 400 deaths registered per year, arising from different types of poisoning. Among these, scorpionism has been gaining magnitude increasing, surpassing in absolute numbers the cases of snakebite.