Scorpion sting: a public health problem in El Kelaa des Sraghna (Morocco)

• Published in: Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: R. El Oufir, I. Semlali, M. Idrissi, A. Soulaymani, S. Benlarabi, A. Khattabi, M. Ait Moh, R. Soulaymani Bencheikh
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SciELO 2008
• Subjects: epidemiology; scorpions; strategy; indicators; El Kelaa; Morocco; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Toxicology. Poisons; RA1190-1270; Zoology; QL1-991; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-91992008000200005; https://doaj.org/article/67bc6602e89f4230b6c8ae1e0ee3a0a2

The present study aimed at verifying the impact of a Moroccan strategy against scorpion stings and specifically at identifying the epidemiological features of patients envenomed or just stung by scorpions. It included 11,907 patients from El Kelaa des Sraghna Province, Morocco, who were evaluated over five years (2001-2005). Most stings occurred during the hot period and mainly at night. The average incidence was 3.2 per 1,000 inhabitants; patients <15 years accounted for 34%, and the envenomation rate was 12%. Average lethality rate was 0.7%. Our work evaluated the efficacy of the adopted strategy based on indicators of follow-up, morbidity and lethality due to scorpion sting and envenomation.