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%). The months between January and April had a larger number of accidents (93%-44.1%), although no significant differences were observed. Only one death occurred, resulting in a mortality rate of 0.5%. The lower limbs were the most frequently affected (66.3%). The majority of the victims were male (75.1%). The age group of most of the patients was from 21 to 30 years (20.8%). The accidents were classified as mild, moderate and severe, representing 44.9%, 47.6% and 7.5% of the cases, respectively. The time elapsed between the accident and medical treatment was less than 3h in most of the cases (80.7%), reflecting the high frequency of mild and moderate accidents (92.5%) as well as the large number of healed patients.