Scorpion Stings

Kapadhi /Uiras and David Hute /UirabWITH their pinchers and raised tails, scorpions are indeed scary creatures. Fortunately, the majority of scorpion bites are harmless (not lifethreatening), but can, of course, be very painful. Less than 5% of scorpion bites require medical attention.

There are 4 scorpion families of importance in southern Africa. The potentially dangerous types belong to the Buthidae family. The general rule is that: The thicker the tail, the more dangerous the scorpion. The mortality rate for children stung by venomous types can be as high as 20%.

Scorpions are mainly active in summer months and mostly at night (usually between October and March in our environment).

Scorpion bites cause immediate pain to the sting site, which can at times be excruciating. For the harmless types (about 95% of all bites), the pain and the anxiety that comes with the sting are all that are experienced.

However, the sting from the dangerous types result in what is known as scorpionism: This comes with hypersensitivity – even clothes or sheets on your skin elicit extreme pain, hyper salivation, difficulty with swallowing and breathing; muscle cramps and tremors; generalised weakness and difficulty walking; racing heart rate; anxiety, etc.

In children, this may manifest with extreme restlessness; crying and screaming, uncontrollable jerking of the arms and legs; chaotic thrashing movements; chewing motions and smacking of the lips. Difficulties with swallowing and breathing are more pronounced in children than adults.

ν Clean the wound with soap and water.

ν Apply a cloth with ice or cold water over the sting site.

ν Calm the victim. This keeps the heart rate low and slows the spread of the venom.

ν While busy with first aid, organise transport to the nearest health facility. If possible, call ahead and alert the doctors on duty.

ν Give overthecounter painkillers (like aspirin or paracetamol), although in most cases, only local anaesthetic relieves the pain around the sting site.

Scorpionism is a medical emergency, especially for children, who may develop severe breathing problems within 12 hours. Thus, it is critical to get the victim to a doctor as soon as possible so that respiratory support and other lifesaving measures are commenced in time.

When camping, set up camp while there is still sunlight.

As a rule, always shake bedding, clothes and shoes before using them.

Remove trash (logs, boards, stones, bricks) from around the house.

Keep grass closely mowed, and prune bushes and overhanging tree branches.

Ensure tight fit to doors and windows.Don’t store firewood inside the house.

When out in the veld, use protective clothing. Do not walk around barefoot, particularly after sunset.

Keeping chickens is a biological control mechanism as they will weed out scorpions for you.

Before concluding, a few words on spider bites. Almost all spiders are poisonous. But most have a poison that is too weak to be of any danger to human beings.

Thus, most spider bites cause only minor injury. Unlike with a scorpion bite (where you will ALWAYS know because of the intense pain), you may, at times, not be aware that you have been bitten by a spider.

Muscle cramps in the abdomen and thighs, and weakness develop next. Some report a tightness in the chest, and a few boys get hard erections. Victims are anxious, sweat a lot and can get exhausted. But deaths have been very rare in the last few decades.

When serious symptoms develop, victims need to be taken to a health facility for treatment.

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