UNIVERSITY OF COLIMA
General Department of Information
Press Release
VALUABLE STUDY CONDUCTED BY AN ALUMNUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLIMA, ON THE BITE OF SCORPIONS
*This research project was conducted by Gerardo Chowell, an alumnus of the Faculty of Telematics, who is working on his doctoral thesis at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, USA.
Gerardo Chowell Puente, an alumnus of the Faculty of Telematics of the University of Colima, who is currently working on his doctoral thesis at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, USA, has recently published an article on the bite of scorpions and its effects on children, on the Toxicon specialized journal. This article could be of great help in the intensive care units of the hospitals of the state of Colima, particularly in Tecomán.
The research on which this text is based, which was completed with the participation of researchers such as Seguro Social’s Porfirio Díaz and Gabriel Ceja, a researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colima, is entitled “Cardiovascular Alterations in Children Caused by the Bite of Centruroides limpidus tecomanu Scorpions” This study was also completed with the participation of T C D’Auria, R. C. Lloyd, and C. Castillo Chávez, from the universities of Arizona and Cornell, in the USA.
In this research, the case of 113 children were analyzed, between the 5 and 14 years of age, who had been bitten by the Centruroides scorpion species, in order to determine their cardiovascular disorders. Among the most common symptoms featured local pain (99.1%), paresthesia (75.2%), pruritus, or itching (36.3%), excessive salivation (35%.4%), and involuntary eye movement (24.8%).
39.8% of cases reported cardiovascular disorders, 71% of which were rhythmic alterations. “We found a significant association between the frequency of electrocardiographic alterations (ECG) and age, especially in children who were 8 and 9 years old”, researchers said. According to Gerardo Chowell, the latter is probably the most important outcome, the fact that children between the 8 and 9 years of age “are more vulnerable to cardiovascular alterations than children in other age groups, which would be important for intensive care,” said Chowell.
According to Chowell Puente, with this information, “a larger share of available resources could be invested in the preventive care of children in this group age, and parents could also be trained to take better care of their children. Additionally, this study would enable the medical community to define clinical priorities more efficiently, and finally, these results could encourage more researchers to identify the biochemical mechanisms behind this association.”
The collection of data in this study was performed from January to December 1999, at IMSS’s No.1 Regional Hospital. Chowell was responsible for conducting the statistical analysis of the information and the preparation of results for publication purposes. Porfirio Díaz, coordinating assistant for public health at IMSS’s No. 1 Regional Hospital, and Gabriel Ceja, professor-researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colima, were responsible for conducting most of the study.
Chowell became famous last year after tracing, with his collages and mentors from Cornell University and Los Alamos, (mainly with the assistance of Carlos Castillo Chávez,) the development of the epidemic known as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) to prevent its worldwide propagation. In order to prevent the behavior of this epidemic, Chowell used mathematical models and analysis.
In recognition of his contribution, Chowell was granted the National Youth Award by President Vicente Fox, in the area of academic activities, at the Los Pinos Presidential Home. In this ceremony, he was joined by Carlos Salazar Silva, President of the University of Colima.
Gerardo Chowell is already considering a post-doctorate, and is currently finishing his doctoral thesis on mathematical models, to better understand how emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases spread, such as SARS, Ebola and the Food and Mouth Disease, which targets cattle. “The approach of my thesis involves validating mathematical models with empirical data in order to better inform public health officials on the most efficient ways to intervene in epidemic outbreaks.”
The journal in which Chowell and his colleagues published the results of their research can be found at: www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/00410101. Since the text is only available to subscribers, in addition to the fact that they cannot publish this text again due to copyright laws, those interested in learning about the results may access Chowell’s personal website: www.people/cornell.edu/pages/gc82
SOURCE: Department of Information
