This is a descriptive and prospective study on epidemiological and clinical aspects of 72 scorpion accidents admitted to Santarém Municipal Hospital, state of Pará, Brazil, from February 2000 to February 2001. Only 8.3% brought the animal with them, identified as T. cambridgei. The majority of victims were male (83.3%). The mean age and the time of the medical help were respectively 33.6±18.3 years and 4.6±3.2 hours. The parts of the body most affected were the superior members (51.5%). Local symptoms occurred in 91.7% cases and systemic manifestations in 98.6% of the accidents. The local symptoms included: paresthesia in 79.2% cases, pain in 52.8% and edema in 26.4%. Among the systemic manifestations neurological disorders predominated in 97.2%, and the symptom of "electric shock" occurred in 88.9% patients. The most common neurological signs were: myoclonia (93%), dysmetria (86.1%), dysarthria (80.6%), and ataxia (70.8%). The accidents were classified as moderate in 76.4% without any serious cases. The specific anti-venom serum was not administered in 32.7% of the moderate cases, due to non-availability of the anti-venom serum at the time of attendance. The victims of scorpion envenomation notified at Santarém, present a different clinical and regional behavior from previous reports in Brazil and Amazonia regions. The predominantly neurological picture has not previously been described in the Brazilian literature.

SUMMARYTwo cases of proven coral snake bites were reported in Belém, Pará State, Brazil. The first case was a severe one caused by Micrurus surinamensis. The patient required mechanical ventilation due to acute respiratory failure. The second case showed just mild signs of envenomation caused by Micrurus filiformis. Both patients received specific Micrurus antivenom and were discharged without further complications. Coral snake bites are scarcely reported in the Amazon region and there is a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, varying from extremely mild to those which may rapidly lead to death if the patient is not treated as soon as possible.

Os acidentes ofídicos representam sério problema de saúde pública nos países tropicais, pela freqüência com que ocorrem e pela morbi-mortalidade que ocasionam 1. No Brasil, os acidentes ofídicos causam uma média de 20.000 casos/ano, com um coeficiente de incidência de 13,5 acidentes/100.000 habitantes. Na região Norte este coeficiente é de 24 acidentes/100 mil habitantes 2. As serpentes peçonhentas do País pertencem aos gêneros Bothrops, Lachesis, Crotalus e Micrurus, as quais produziram 65.911 acidentes notificados, no período de 1990 a 1993. Dentre esses, o gênero Lachesis foi responsável por 1,4% 2 , porém são raros os registros na literatura brasileira 3,4,5 .