I. Maradei-Irastorza
Sección de Farmacología, Depto. de Ciencias Funcionales, Decanato de Medicina, UCLA, Barquisimeto
Scorpionism is a public health problem worldwide. An increasing number of envenomations with fatal outcome have been reported in many countries including Venezuela. Although efforts have been made in basic, epidemiological, and clinical research on scorpion envenomation, its magnitude seems to be underestimated. With respect to Lara State, an endemic area of scorpionism, we decided to characterize scorpion envenomations from a clinical and epidemiological angle. The demographic (sex, age, origin) and clinical (time of envenomation, area of body affected, treatment, mortality) data of the patients were obtained after a review of the clinical records of cases held at the Toxicological Center in the midwestern region of Venezuela (Lara State) registered from January 1983 to June 1997. The statistical analysis included the determination of descriptive statistics (means and percentages) and morbidity projections. The results show a general increasing tendency of the absolute (Figure 1) and relative (Figure 2) values of morbidity. In 1996, the highest values were observed with 180 reported cases at a rate of 14 per 100,000 inhabitants. The populations of Duaca (Crespo District) and Barquisimeto (Iribarren District) showed the highest incidences with Crespo District, with a predominantly rural population (Figure 2), being much higher when the data is represented in relative values. Most of the stung individuals were children (50.7%) with a predominance of males (52.7%). The most frequent clinical manifestations were local pain and vomiting. The upper limbs were the most frequently stung areas (57%). Scorpion antivenom was administered to 41% of the victims (always less than 12 h after the sting). The total lethality was 0.70%. The highest incidence of envenomation was between February and June with another small peak in December. The projections indicate that within 10 years the number of cases (around 300) and the rate of incidence (18 per 100,000 inhabitants) will increase. In this study, a total agreement was seen between the commonly described clinical and epidemiological parameters. This study revealed a disturbing observation related to morbidity, not only in absolute terms, which could be explained by the population increase, but also in relative terms (rates of incidence), which indicates a real increase in scorpionism. This increase can cause a concomitant rise in lethality if the necessary measures are not taken by the Toxicology Services of the endemic regions, especially Lara State.
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
16 Apr 1999 -
Date of issue
1999
