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Toxinology pp 1–21Cite as

Scorpion Venoms: Pathogenesis and Biotherapies

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Abstract

Accidental pathogenesis, such as that attributed to scorpion stings, required an emergency treatment. Scorpion envenoming (SE) is an accidental disease encountered in tropical and subtropical countries. This accident is considered as a public health problem due to its induced pathophysiological effects, which could be fatal to humans. Observed clinical cases after scorpion stings are often different from one species to another. The severity of the symptoms depends on the health of the victim and the injected amount of the venom by sting and predominantly on patient’s age (stung children seem to be the more vulnerable). Some symptoms appear rapidly and could evolve and worsen to multivisceral damage (MVD) leading to the fatal outcome. In regions at risk, immunotherapy is the most commonly used approach to treat stung victims. This therapy is associated with symptomatic treatment according to the health state of each patient. The specific treatment may have a limited therapeutic value mainly due to neutralizing capacity of the used antibodies and also to other environment the factors such as the time taken to reach at the health sectors. This review emphasizes SE as a public health problem raging not only in Maghreb regions but also in the rest of the world. Understanding of the induced effects after stings is essential to optimize the treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB), BP 32 El-Alia, Bab Ezzouar, Algiers, 16 111, Algeria

    Fatima Laraba-Djebari, Sonia Adi-Bessalem & Djelila Hammoudi-Triki

Authors
  1. Fatima Laraba-Djebari
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  2. Sonia Adi-Bessalem
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  3. Djelila Hammoudi-Triki
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Correspondence to Fatima Laraba-Djebari .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    P. Gopalakrishnakone

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Laraba-Djebari, F., Adi-Bessalem, S., Hammoudi-Triki, D. (2013). Scorpion Venoms: Pathogenesis and Biotherapies. In: Gopalakrishnakone, P. (eds) Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6647-1_2-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6647-1_2-1

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