Yuma Regional Medical Center will have scorpion anti-venom soon
A scorpion's sting has now met it match. FDA approved an anti-venom to treat serious reactions after being stung by a scorpion..
If you're ever stung by one, you're in luck as an anti-venom will soon be available at a hospital near you.
The little yellow creatures are prominent in the Grand Canyon State.
The Bark Scorpion's sting can cause a lot of pain, sometimes it can even kill.
But now there's a new anti-venom that can help save lives.
"Although we don't see many bites here we want to be prepared," Bob Goodwillie, assistant pharmacy director at Yuma Regional Medical Center said.
Now for the first time the Federal Drug Administration has approved an antidote for scorpion stings
It's called "Anascorp" and it will be soon available in a hospital near you.
YRMC officials said they're already looking into it.
"We expect to see something in a month, its been used down in Mexico for a number of years and so they've been testing it up here. It had to go through all the FDA approval process," Goodwillie said. "So now we have it."
According to the University of Arizona, about 8,000 scorpion stings are reported every year in Arizona.
Severe symptoms of scorpion stings include: numbness at the sting site, increased heart rate, abnormal eye movements, excessive salivation and breathing problems.
Goodwillie said scorpion's sting could be lethal to small children, and the at risk elderly.
"They also end up having histamine release which can cause fluid build up in the lungs and they can be admitted to the intensive care unit," He said.
A UofA study showed that the new drug quickly relieved a child's symptoms.
"It looks like it could not only achieve that but could also ultimately be cost effective if it avoids hospitalization and we can send them home after four hours," Goodwillie said.
He also said they don't have a price tag on the scorpion antidote yet.
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