Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of scorpion stings in children in fez, Morocco

• Published in: Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: S Abourazzak, S Achour, L El Arqam, S Atmani, S Chaouki, I Semlali, R Soulaymani Bencheikh, A Bouharrou, M Hida
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SciELO 2009
• Subjects: scorpion sting; clinical symptoms; envenomation; treatment; children; Morocco; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Toxicology. Poisons; RA1190-1270; Zoology; QL1-991; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-91992009000200008; https://doaj.org/article/47776ca126cb4b4ca4a1530fcf3c0cef

Scorpion stings are a public health problem in Morocco, especially among children, who experience the most severe cases. Epidemiological and clinical findings on scorpion stings in Fez, Morocco, were evaluated in this investigation. Of 163 cases that required medical attention, 62.6% were male children. The mean age of patients was 4.8 ± 3.4 years. The mean time between stings and first medical attention was 3.36 ± 2.5 hours. Almost all cases occurred in the summer (94%) and extremities represented the most frequent sting sites (86.5%). Local pain, hyperemia, scarification, vomiting, sweating, restlessness, tachycardia and tachypnea were the observed clinical symptoms. Regarding severity, 55.2% of patients belonged to class III, followed by class II (26.4%) and class I (18.4%). None of our patients received antivenom; however, all of them were treated symptomatically depending on clinical manifestations.