Scorpionism and Dangerous Species of Colombia

Abstract

Scorpionism is the disease caused in human beings by a scorpion sting. Depending on the severity of the sting, it can produce multiorgan system failure and death and is a public health problem worldwide with a high incidence and varying degrees of severity. But that in Colombia is a neglected health problem. The lack of awareness of the risks connected with scorpion accidents in Colombia has brought as a consequence the underestimation of this type of accident from the person who suffers it to the health professionals themselves. This too is worryingly reflected in the forming of mistaken diagnoses, in the administering of inadequate therapeutic measures, and in the lack of government programs aimed at preventing it. The systemic clinical symptoms associated with the envenomation caused by Colombian scorpions have been observed in some experimental studies, reports, series of cases, and observational studies and are related to processes of neurotox-icity, characterized by hyperactivity and intense and persistent depolarization of the autonomic fibers with the consequent massive release of neurotransmitters. These elements have been described previously for other species of scorpion of medical importance worldwide, such as Leiurus quinquestriatus, Androctonus australis, Tityus serrulatus, T. discrepans, and Centruroides exilicauda, among others. Severe scorpionism in Colombia is caused not only by T. pachyurus but also by seven species C. edwardsii, C. margaritatus, T. asthenes, T. forcipula, T. fuhrmanni, T. pachyurus, and T. n. sp. aff. metuendus, and the scorpion T. columbianus is ranked as a dangerous species.