Escorpionismo em crianças e adolescentes do Norte de Minas Gerais: aspectos epidemiológicos e clínicos associados aos casos graves

Abstract

Introduction: Scorpionism is among the most important accidents with venomous animals in children, especially in tropical countries with poor urbanization, favoring the proliferation of scorpions. Objective: To analyze the association between epidemiological and clinical factors and the severity of scorpion stings in children and adolescents. Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, analyzing clinical records of 648 patients aged zero to twelve years. The outcome variable was the severity of the scorpion bite (severe and non-severe) and the independent variables included demographic characteristics of the population, clinical and epidemiological aspects of the event. To identify factors associated with the severity of the accident, bivariate analyzes were performed using Pearson's chi-square test. Variables with a significance of 25% (p⥪ 0.25) were included in the multivariate Poisson analysis. Results: There were 34.7% of severe cases. Predominance of female children, under three years of age, with non-white skin color, from the urban area and from Montes Claros. Most accidents occurred before 5 pm, in the lower limbs and received care for more than 1 hour. Presence of sequelae (PR=1.75; 95%CI= 1.00-3.05) and admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (PR=2.45; 95%CI= 1.23-4.88) were associated with cases serious. Lower limb bites showed a reduction in prevalence (PR= 0.76; CI95%=0.62-2.94) for the result of serious accidents. Conclusion: The epidemiological profile showed that the majority of bites occurred up to 5 pm, with service time greater than 1 hour and bites in the lower limbs associated with a reduction in prevalence. The clinical profile showed an association between ICU stay and use of vasoactive amines and severity. Given the epidemiological and clinical importance of scorpionism in children, measures are needed to clarify the population to prevent accidents and improve the prognosis of this event.