Scorpion is an exotic arachnid, similar to a crayfish, belonging to the type of arthropod insects, which for many centuries has been letting fear into all living things.
His bite carries a huge danger to a person, up to a partial paralysis and death.
Where can I stumble upon a scorpion?
Scorpios are very aggressive and poisonous; found primarily in southern Europe, Central Asia, America, North Africa, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Crimea.
A special representative of this type of insect is the Israeli subspecies of the genus Leiurus quinquestriatus, which is translated from Latin as “deadly stalker”. The risk of being bitten is most exposed to residents and visitors of the southern countries, who should first of all know how such an insect looks and what lifestyle it leads. If in some way a person received such an injury as a scorpion bite, what should I do? How to escape? What measures should be taken first?
Scorpion Description
Scorpio has an impressive size (sometimes up to 18 cm), looks like a crayfish: divided into segments of the body, 2 claws, 6 limbs. You can recognize a dangerous creature by a thickened tail curved upwards with a sharp sting. The insect spends most of its life, which lasts about 5 years, in places inaccessible to the human eye (small gorges, spaces under stones, burrows in sandy soil 15–25 cm deep). It is active mainly at night. A person can be attacked only because of fear or in the process of defense.
The poison of some representatives of the species is very dangerous, therefore, a timely recognized scorpion bite can save a human life. It is believed that individuals with large claws are less toxic.
Scorpion bite: symptoms
When a scorpion bite resembles a rather painful injection, the appearance of the following symptoms is observed:
- Acute, burning pain, proportional in its power to the degree of toxicity of the scorpion. According to pain, it resembles a severe burn and can last several hours, then intensifying, then calming down.
- Redness at the lesion with a dark injection point in the middle. The occurrence of edema, rapidly spreading with potent poison.
- Severe itching.
- Feeling of numbness at the site of the lesion.
- The formation of bubbles filled with a clear liquid.
- Attacks of nausea, periodic vomiting, pain in the abdomen.
- Dizziness, headache, sometimes sore throat.
- Inflammation of the lymph nodes.
- Active salivation, confirming the intoxication of the body.
- Tongue swelling, purulent discharge from the eyes - with severe lesions.
- Tachycardia and loss of consciousness in especially difficult cases.
- Unstable body temperature.
- General anxiety is the result of overexcitation of the nervous system.
Scorpion bite: first aid and treatment
It is very important to respond in a timely manner to a bite of a malicious insect, because passivity in such cases can cause serious consequences. What to do with a scorpion bite? In the first minutes, actions should be taken to prevent and slow the penetration of poison into the body.
- Try to squeeze out the poison or make a small incision at the site of the bite and suck out the poisonous substance. Liquid needs to be spat out periodically. After the procedure, rinse your mouth thoroughly with water. It is very important that there are no wounds in the oral cavity. The method is effective in the first 10 minutes from the moment of injury.
- The affected area should be treated with an alcohol solution and an antiseptic dressing applied. This will protect against microbes that the scorpion could carry on its sting.
- Apply cold or apply a tight dressing to relieve swelling and reduce pain. This slows down the spread of the toxic substance throughout the body.
- Position the victim horizontally, ensuring complete immobility of the bitten limb.
- Inject an adrenaline or novocaine into the bite, which temporarily blocks the absorption of the poison.
- Apply antiallergic drugs. The action on nerve cells will exclude the injection of Atropine.
- Urgently deliver the victim to the nearest medical facility for professional assistance and further treatment.
Avoiding a Scorpion Bite
In order not to become a victim of a scorpion, it is recommended:
- for an overnight stay in nature, where there is a high probability of the presence of scorpions, choose flat surfaces, be sure to clear them of foreign objects: dry branches, stones, etc .;
- tightly curtain the entrance to the tent;
- before going to bed, carry out a thorough inspection of tents, sleeping bags;
- shake out clothes and shoes in the morning;
- do not wander on rocky slopes at night, do not collect firewood for a fire;
- do not walk without shoes on sandy beaches and desert places, as scorpions love to dig into the sand to a shallow depth;
- when meeting with a dangerous insect, you should not tease him, try to touch his tail.
It should be understood what danger to the body is the poison of a scorpion. Being a neurotoxic polypeptide, this substance is characterized by the ability to cause allergic reactions, stimulate the release of stress hormones and adversely affect brain tissue and nerve cells.
Treatment
With a bite of a non-toxic scorpion, treatment consists in treating the wound and relieving pain with cold or painkillers. In cases more complicated, the victim is required to ensure peace; in the presence of high blood pressure and muscle spasms, appropriate drugs and an antitoxin serum that destroys the poison are prescribed. In the first 12 hours after the bite, the patient is forbidden to take any food. In severe cases of scorpionism (as a scorpion bite is called in medical terminology), the patient is provided with blood circulation and airway patency with the parallel use of drugs whose action is aimed at eliminating shock and dehydration.
"Phenobarbital", "Diazepam" are prescribed, adrenergic receptors are drugs that block symptoms arising from the action of the poison.
It is noteworthy that the killer scorpion venom poses no danger to the latter, while a person can cause paralysis and cerebral edema.
The consequences of meeting with a scorpion
A scorpion bite, if the latter is not toxic, does not have serious consequences for the body, in mild cases it even looks like a bee. Small swelling at the site of the lesion, which will literally disappear in a couple of days, can remind you of an unpleasant moment in life. In severe cases (for example, when a tree scorpion bites), the poison can enter the bloodstream, cause a severe form of allergy and even cause death.
A scorpion bite is very dangerous, the consequences of which can be simply unpredictable for people with weakened immune systems, old people and children. It is worth knowing that the development of poisoning depends on the height of the lesion: the lower the location of the bite, the less likely the onset of serious reactions.
It will come in handy.
Approximately 95% of fatal cases and 80% of severe poisoning are recorded after encounters with thick-tailed representatives of the species - androctonuses (from the ancient Greek. “Killing men”) that live in the forests and deserts of North Africa. A scorpion bite, the treatment of which can sometimes turn out to be a huge problem, is insensitive due to the presence of strong neurotoxins in the poison, which have a toxic effect on the nervous system and heart. The poison of such an insect leads to death within 7 hours from the moment of defeat. A person has severe intoxication, a child has asthma attacks. In this case, life can only be saved by the antidote.
Water scorpion - scorpion?
The namesake of a scorpion - a water scorpion that lives in water bodies with inactive water - can also cause a person troubles. In fact, this is a bug that resembles the appearance of its southern counterpart. He bites just as painfully, but is not dangerous. There is no need for special treatment; itching and discomfort can be relieved by applying cold to the site of the bite and treating it with an antiseptic.
Scorpio is an insect that always causes increased interest in itself. Mysterious and inaccessible, he carries a mortal danger to man at his sharp sting. Therefore, when meeting with such a representative of the fauna world, one should maintain composure and try to avoid a bite as much as possible.