Scorpions grow explosively and threaten Brazil

Scorpions, a group of arthropods known for their poisonous tails, are thriving due to urbanization and warming temperatures. They have become the deadliest venomous animal in Brazil, posing a growing danger to people and fueling the need for antidotes. AFP reported on November 7.

The most common scorpion species in the country, the Brazilian yellow scorpion (Tityus serrulatus), is also the most dangerous scorpion in South America. The special thing is that they are all female and reproduce asexually, making population control more difficult.

“With the warming environment, the metabolism of these organisms also increases. Therefore, they are more active, eat more and reproduce more,” said Thiago Chiariello, production coordinator at the department scorpion antidote experiment at the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil, explains.

Additionally, massive urbanization reduces the number of scorpions’ natural predators such as lizards and birds, while increasing the number of cockroaches – a delicious food for scorpions. This makes the situation more serious.

“Cities are growing uncontrollably, increasing waste, giving scorpions more food. This leads to them coming into more contact with humans, which means more incidents,” Chiariello explained. prefer.

Last year, there were 152 deaths from scorpion stings in Brazil, while the number of snake bites was 140. In 2019, there were only 95 deaths from scorpion stings. According to Brazil’s Ministry of Health, a total of more than 200,000 scorpion stings were recorded last year, a 250% increase from a decade ago. On average, there are nearly 550 stings per day.

Healthy adults may experience only mild to moderate symptoms from a Brazilian yellow scorpion sting, including pain, vomiting, heavy sweating, and shaking. But there are more serious symptoms such as shock, fluid accumulation in the lungs, heart failure, and heart failure, which can be fatal, especially in children and the elderly.

This makes Butantan Institute’s antidote extremely important. Chiariello’s team carried out the task of producing the antidote with great precision. First, they used tweezers to place the live scorpion’s stinger into the container. The venom is then injected into horses, which are less affected by the toxin than humans, thereby producing more antibodies.

“There is a whole purification process in horse blood. Antidotes are the only way to save lives,” said Paulo Goldoni, a biologist at the Butantan Institute. Last year, more than 11,000 people in Brazil received scorpion antidote, mainly in the densely populated southeast of the country.