Children are more vulnerable to scorpion sting poisoning

Recurrent cases of severe systemic poisoning by scorpion venom, such as that of the girl Valentina Nobre Lima, aged 11, who died after being stung while putting on her shoe in the Federal District, draw attention to the vulnerability of children.

After the accident, the family contacted the Fire Department, but only had access to anti-scorpion serum at a regional hospital. From there, the child was taken to an intensive care unit (ICU). Valentina was intubated and remained in an induced coma for 24 days. She passed away last Sunday (5).

In Brazil there are more than 170 species of scorpion, and the effects of stings can be more or less dangerous, depending on the species and who receives the venom. The yellow scorpion, with a wide distribution in all macro-regions of Brazil, is responsible for the most serious accidents.

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According to Joelma Gonçalves Martin, a specialist at the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP), children are more vulnerable to the substance injected by the scorpion, as they are smaller, with less body mass than an adult.

"It is an extremely aggressive poison. The child is bitten and receives the same amount of poison as an adult would, but in the child the poison is distributed throughout an organism that has a lower body weight. So this will result in a higher dose of toxin per kilogram of weight in children than in adults", explains the pediatrician.

Symptoms
According to Joelma, scorpion venom contains toxins that act on the nervous system, causing different symptoms that mainly affect the heart and neurological system.

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"These substances can cause a major heart attack, they can lead to hypertension, they can lead to acute pulmonary edema. And, in the case of the child's heart and the nervous system, this is more intense, since children have less physiological reserve to withstand these changes", he says.

According to the pediatrician, the worsening of the condition soon presents other signs, such as tachycardia, sweating, signs of high blood pressure, low blood pressure, seizures, psychomotor agitation, drowsiness, lack of neurological response, bradycardia (slow heartbeat), abdominal pain and shortness of breath.

"The intensity of the symptoms of a scorpion sting will depend, of course, on the amount of venom that was inoculated and the age of the patient, with children having more severe symptoms", reinforces Joelma Martin.

Service
The signs of the bite on the skin are barely visible, but the intense pain is a strong sign that the bite existed and that a quick medical response is necessary, especially in children, the elderly and immunocompromised people.

"It is very important that we have a mapping in the municipalities of where the nearest service that has the antiscorpion serum is, so that patients can be immediately referred there, because the time it takes to receive this serum is actually responsible for the best response", explains the pediatrician.

According to information released by the Toxicological Information and Assistance Center, the Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU 192) or the Fire Department (193) can be called to transport the patient to reference hospitals for serotherapy for accidents caused by venomous animals.

Each State Department of Health is responsible for keeping the list of these hospitals updated.

According to Joelma Martin, it is important to have this information even before the accident happens, to avoid wasting time searching for other health services that do not have antiscorpion serum.

"Cleanse the site [of the bite]. Eventually, you can give oral analgesic medication, which tends to be ineffective, but it minimizes the pain a little.

Lifting the limb [that received the bite] can also be an important complement to treatment, but it should not delay referral to the hospital", says the pediatrician.

Prevention
As children are more vulnerable to serious cases of poisoning, it is necessary to double prevention among them.

"Instruct children to shake the shoes that are under the bed, the clothes that have been lying around for a long time, not to go and play in places with lots of holes in the walls, lots of waste, accumulations of construction materials, train tracks. All these things retain or hide the scorpion", highlights Joelma.

The Ministry of Health manual that deals with accidents caused by scorpions warns that cleaning environments is essential to avoid the presence of insects that serve as food for scorpions. The use of sills, screens and drain seals, unused sinks are also barriers.

Move beds and cribs away from the walls and prevent bedding, mosquito nets and other types of cloth from touching the floor, to prevent the scorpion from climbing. And when you identify its presence, report it to environmental surveillance.

"I would like to emphasize that scorpions multiply through parthenogenesis, so they have their babies on their own. When a person encounters a scorpion, there is generally a family of them nearby", concludes the pediatrician.

Source: CNN