On 7/16/18 4:25 AM, BurfordTJustice wrote:
Scorpion deaths on rise in Brazil as arachnid adapts to urban life

Deaths have more than doubled as specialists warn of increasing danger for
city-dwellers

Specialists in Brazil have warned of the rising danger of deadly scorpions
amid a spiraling number of reported deaths and stings by the hardy arachnids
which are proliferating in the country's urban centres.


The number of deaths from scorpion stings reported to the country's public
health system has more than doubled in the past four years, from 70 in 2013
to 184 in 2017, while cases of scorpion stings rose from 37,000 in 2007 to
126,000 last year.

Meanwhile, the death last week of a four-year old girl in São Paulo state
has reinforced concerns that many small towns lack anti-venom to treat
stings.

With deforestation and the increase in urban centres this scorpion is
increasing its presence

Four dangerous species of scorpion are found in Brazil but the yellow
scorpion, or Tityus serrulatus, has proved particularly deadly, having
adapted from its traditional savannah habitat to survive in sewers, garbage
and rubble in urban areas.

"With deforestation and the increase in urban centres this scorpion is
increasing its presence," said Rogério Bertani, a scientific researcher and
scorpion specialist at the Butantan Institute, a São Paulo research
institute attached to the state government. "Contact with human beings is
very big. I believe personally this will tend to get worse."

The yellow scorpion is parthenogenetic, which means the female can breed
without being fertilised by males and it eats insects such as cockroaches.

"These scorpions have a low metabolism and can live various months without
feeding," Bertani said.

Small children are especially vulnerable. This week Yasmin de Campos, four,
died after being stung by a scorpion in Calabria Paulista in the interior of
São Paulo state, the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported.

She was driven to a hospital in Duartina just 10km away but it had no
anti-venom and she was only treated three hours later after being driven
another 50km to Bauru - by which time it was too late. A receptionist at the
hospital in Duartina said that it had no anti-venom stock.

José Brites Neto, a medical veterinarian, leads a four-man scorpion team in
the city of Americana in São Paulo state which has captured nearly 8,000
scorpions this year, using ultra-violet light and hunting at night.

Brites Neto said that the yellow scorpion has spread around sewage networks
and rainwater drains because of the abundance of cockroaches. "This species
is dominating, colonising and very adaptable," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health said anti-venom is sent to state
health authorities who distribute to towns.

"Deaths by scorpions are most strongly associated with the pediatric age
group and poisoning by Tityus Serrulatus," she said. "Light cases, which don't
need anti-venom, are 87% of cases."


This has affected your life how? Has it cost you any money? Have your
rights been taken away? Do you think you're going to die at any moment
because of it? Are you frightened?