Epidemiology of scorpion sting in Kurdistan province, 2018

Background: Scorpion sting is one of the major health threats reported as the highest cause of poisonous bite death in the world. The province of Kurdistan, though less than the southern parts of the Iran, is one of the areas where a lot of scorpions bite.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiological and demographic data of scorpions in this province during 2018.Materials and Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional descriptive study that all scorpion stings referred to health centers of Kurdistan province during 2018 were studied. Graph pad prism8 were analyzed; Anowa & Chi-square test was used to examine the relationship between variables.Results: During the year 2018, 612 cases of scorpion stings were reported from Kurdistan province, which resulted in no deaths due to timely treatment. Over 516 cases (84.3%) received anti-scorpion injection in less than 6 hours. Most bites occurred in the hand with 54.9%, in Baneh (126 cases) and Marivan (135 cases) district with 42.6% the highest bites. Bites in males were 58.8% more than females. The highest rate of bites occurred in the age group of 25-35 years with 21.7% and also in rural population with 75.6% much higher than urban population. According to the results, the least biting occurred during the hours of 6 to 12 noon (18.6%) and the highest bite was reported between 12 noon and 6 pm with 28.7%.Conclusion: Although improvement in health, economic and social status in many areas has had a significant effect on reducing scorpion sting, this problem persists in most parts of Kurdistan, including serious health problems. The highest rate of bites (47.1%) was in July and August, while scorpion bites in rural areas were also significant (p<0.05), which should be considered in planning, training and emergency preparedness, Pre-hospital consideration. Treatment of scorpion sting with anti-scorpion serum should be done quickly without delay, This is especially important in children. The training of health personnel and the allocation of resources and facilities on the one hand, as well as the promotion of public awareness by health educators, play an important role in preventing scorpion sting.

کلیدواژه ها:

Epidemiology ، Scorpion ، Scorpion sting ، Kurdistan