Epidemiological Study of Scorpion-sting in Patients Referred to Medical Centers of Shiraz, South-west of Iran

Background: Scorpion sting is one of the serious and major medical problems in the world. Shiraz is a tourist city and one of the highrisk areas where a number of scorpion sting occurs annually. Objectives: The present research aimed to conduct an epidemiological study of scorpion sting in Shiraz County. Methods: The is a crosssectional study  performed using a checklists to collect data about scorpionism in Shiraz health center during 2014-2018. Results: The results of the study showed that the total number of scorpion stings was 844 cases. generally, 336 cases (39.8%) were female and 508 s (59.3%) male. The results from the residential area revealed that 817 cases (96.8%) were urban and 27 (3.1%) were rural. The highest frequency of scorpionism happened in the 25-34 years old group (286,33.8%) and after that 15-24 year old (165,19.4%), 35-44 year old (157, 18.6%), 45-54 year old (108, 12.7%) groups, and the least  frequency awas seen in the 04 year old group. The time periods between the sting and injection of antivenom were less than 6 hours for 822, (85.5%) of cases, 6–12 hours for 101, (11.9%) of cases and, more than 12 hours for 21 (2.4%)  cases. A total of 844 cases were recovered; 690 (81.7%) of them recovered with antivenom and 154 (18.2%) injured individuals recovered without any antivenom, the sting site was 27.6% in the foot, 57% in the hand, and 20% in the head and trunk. Conclusion: Shiraz is a major tourist city, and most cases of scorpionsting occur in summer and spring, when the tourist population is high, so health care providers must carry out an integrated program in those months.