Accident caused by Centruroides testaceus (DeGeer, 1778) (Scorpiones, Buthidae), native to the Caribbean, in Brazilian airport

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Ricardo Antônio Lobo, Paulo André Margonari Goldoni, Cláudio Augusto Ribeiro de Souza, Carlos Roberto de Medeiros
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2011
• Subjects: Picadas de escorpião; Centruroides; Centruroides testaceus; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86822011000600028; https://doaj.org/article/0f235fe873de4c2ea8a1189d1582bb8c

Describes the case of a 6-year-old girl who was stung by a Centruroides testaceus, a scorpion native to the Lesser Antilles, in the Guarulhos International Airport, São Paulo, Brazil, as she disembarked from a flight coming from the Caribbean. The patient presented only local symptoms (a small area of erythema and pain at the sting site), which were resolved after a few hours with analgesics, without the need for antivenom. Physicians who treat patients stung by scorpions should be alert to the possibility of such accidents being caused by non native species, especially those cases that occur near airports or ports.