ABSTRACT
Scorpions are eight-legged arthropods that can inflict a painful sting. About 1250 species occur on all major land masses except Antarctica.1 Some species are more dangerous than others, depending on the type of venom. Size and appearance do not determine the medical importance of a scorpion; for example, scorpions in the genera Pandinus and Heterometrus (Old World) and Hadrurus (New World) may be huge with large pedipalps and menacing, but they constitute no serious health hazard. Most species can elicit local effects by their stings in a manner similar to that of bees and wasps; Centruroides vittatus is a common offender in the southwestern United States (see box) There is immediate sharp pain at the site of venom injection and often moderate local edema (which may be discolored). Dr. Scott Stockwell, formerly at the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, compared the sting to hitting one’s thumb with a hammer. Regional lymph node enlargement, local itching, paresthesia, fever, and occasionally nausea and vomiting may also occur.2 Signs and symptoms in a person stung by a scorpion with this type of venom usually subside in a few hours; however, it must be noted that a person with insect sting allergy could have a systemic reaction from this type of venom.
