Acidentes por animais peçonhentos no Estado do Tocantins: aspectos clínico-epidemiológicos

Abstract

Accidents by venomous animals are the second cause of human poisoning in Brazil, second only to drug intoxication. Nationally the scorpions are most responsible for this event, but there is regional variation according to different degrees of human occupation and habitat of the animals involved. This study examined the envenomations in Tocantins State in the years 2010 and 2011, with the aim of identifying clinical and epidemiological aspects related to this condition. The data were collected from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) and related to rainfall characteristics of the region. It was used the BioEstat 5.0® software to check the statistical validity of the data by the chi-square test, defined an α = 5%. Of all the victims, 69.0% were male and 50.0% were aged between 20 and 49 years. Most accidents occurred during the rainy season and in the countryside (58.9%), environment where men were three times more affected than women. The bite was most frequent in the foot (40.5%), hand (15.7%) and leg (12.2%), demonstrating that the use of proper footwear, gloves and leggings may represent important protective measure. Snakes caused the most injuries (50.9%), followed by scorpions (19.7%). Pain and swelling were the main local clinical manifestations reported, and secondary infection the most frequent local complication. Ten deaths were recorded in the period, all by the bite of serpents. These data show that the main victims of such accidents in the State are young men coming from rural areas, hit in the body’s extremities, especially during the rainy season.

Keywords

• poisoning
• bite
• epidemiology