Euscorpius flavicaudis sting is not lethal but not harmless either: First record of neurological symptoms in child after sting

Summary Introduction Five scorpion species live in France: Buthus occitanus, Belisarius xambeui, Euscorpius flavicaudis, Euscorpius carpathicus and Euscorpius italicus. The species of the genus Euscorpius have a body color ranging from brown to black with yellow or orange-brown legs and tail. From the literature, we know that Euscorpius’ sting can induce nausea, vomiting and tachycardia. Case report In the south of France, on January 2019, a 10-year-old boy had his hand stung by a black bodied and yellow legged and tailed scorpion. The symptoms following the sting were: local pain up to the shoulder, paresthesia, pruritus, sweating, some painful abdominal cramp, an inability to lift the arm above the shoulder level, a decreasing muscular strength, hypoesthesia and a transient fasciculation. Symptoms disappeared after 72 h. This is a grade II envenomation according to the Khattabi classification. Having been stung by similar scorpions before, the child had, until now, only experienced local pain, sweating, hyperthermia, abdominal pain and vomiting. Discussion As the scorpion species was not collected or photographed, it was identified using a map showing the known locations of the different species known to France. This is the first case report of neurological symptoms in an envenomation by a Euscorpius flavicaudis. This severity is due to the patient's vulnerability (children, low weight) and low scorpion activity (winter, high humidity) that increases envenomation potential.