More children die from scorpion stings in southern Libya; antidote shortage blamed

By Libya Herald reporter.

Tripoli, 6 September 2015:

More children are reported to have died from scorpion stings in the south of the . . .[restrict]country because of a lack of antidote. According to officials in Wadi Otba, near Murzuk, seven children have died within the municipality over the past month.

There had been over 100 cases of scorpion stings in the area over the period, according to local council member Mukhtar Al-Amin. He added that most people resort to traditional treatments to deal with them.

Healthy adults, however, do not usually succumb to scorpion stings. It is the young, the elderly and those with seriously illnesses who are at risk.

There have been other reports of children dying from scorpion stings elsewhere in southern Libya over the past month because of a lack of antidote. A local official in Obari last week said children had died there. There have also been reports of children dying in Kufra.

In almost all cases, the deaths have been put down to a lack of antidote caused by Libya’s political crisis. [/restrict]