Escorpionismo: uma análise cienciométrica

Abstract

Scorpions are arthropods of great importance to public health in several countries due to the large number of accidents that some species cause, which can lead to deaths, especially in children and the elderly. The main family that includes venomous scorpions is Buthidae, considered the most relevant due to its toxicity, in addition to causing a large number of accidents annually, especially in seven main areas of the world, including Brazil. Scorpionism is characterized by the action of toxins that cause important metabolic changes in victims, requiring in many cases the immediate administration of anti-scorpion serum. These accidents continue to be under-reported, despite their great importance and few studies are carried out on this subject. This work was intended to search the Web of Science database for works on scorpionism in general between the years 1945-2021. A total of 1205 documents were selected to evaluate bibliometric variables in order to understand the relevance of scorpionism within the world scientific production over the years, given the increasing number of reported accidents, especially in Brazil. Through this work it was observed that Brazil is the main country of world scientific production on scorpionism, in addition to being one of the main countries that participate in international collaborations for the development of political partnerships to encourage science, having great social responsibility for academic development, however, scorpionism is still very little studied and understood, with gaps within science for this area of study. Currently, scorpions, especially the toxins that make up venoms, are being targeted by studies aimed at biotechnology, showing great potential for the treatment of diseases such as heart disease, hypertension and cancer.