Children Growing Up with Severe Disabilities as a Result of Snakebite Envenomations in Indigenous Villages of the Brazilian Amazon: Three Cases and Narratives

Abstract

Snakebites are a major public health problem in the Brazilian Amazon and may lead to local complications and physical deficiencies. Access to antivenom treatment is poorer in indigenous populations compared to other populations. In this study, we report three cases of long-term severe disabilities as a result of Bothrops atrox snakebites in indigenous children, according to the narratives of the parents. The three cases evolved to compartment syndrome, secondary bacterial infection and extensive necrosis. The cases are associated with delayed antivenom treatment due to very fragmented therapeutic itineraries, which are marked by several changes in means of transport along the route. The loss of autonomy at such an early stage of life due to a disability caused by a snakebite, as observed in this study, may deprive children of sensory and social experiences and of learning their future roles in the community. In common to all cases, there was precarious access to rehabilitation services, which are generally centralized in the state capital, and which leads to a prolonged hospitalization of patients with severe snakebite, and distances them from their territory and family and community ties. Prospective studies should be conducted in the Amazon that estimate the burden of disabilities from snakebites in order to formulate public policies for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients through culturally tailored interventions.

Keywords

• indigenous peoples
• access to health care
• Brazilian Amazon
• disabilities