Snakebites in southwestern Goiás State, Brazil

ABSTRACT

The present study evaluated snakebite cases recorded by the Southwest II Regional Health Bureau [Regional de Saúde Sudoeste II], Goiás State, Brazil. The following data were analyzed accident period; patient's age and gender; bite site; envenomation severity; and time elapsed between the bite and medical treatment. We evaluated 211 cases recorded between January 2002 and December 2005, which resulted in an incidence coefficient of 32.4/100,000 inhabitants. Most accidents were due to the bite of snakes from the Bothrops genus (78.2 percent). The months between January and April had a larger number of accidents (93 percent-44.1 percent), although no significant differences were observed. Only one death occurred, resulting in a mortality rate of 0.5 percent. The lower limbs were the most frequently affected (66.3 percent). The majority of the victims were male (75.1 percent). The age group of most of the patients was from 21 to 30 years (20.8 percent). The accidents were classified as mild, moderate and severe, representing 44.9 percent, 47.6 percent and 7.5 percent of the cases, respectively. The time elapsed between the accident and medical treatment was less than 3h in most of the cases (80.7 percent), reflecting the high frequency of mild and moderate accidents (92.5 percent) as well as the large number of healed patients.