Serpentes e acidentes ofídicos na zona rural do município de Tefé, Amazonas: aspectos socioeconômicos, epidemiológicos e ecológicos

Abstract

Accidents with venomous snakes represent an important public health problem in the Amazon. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the profile of ophidism and ecological aspects of snakebites in the rural area of the municipality of Tefé, Amazonas, where six communities were visited on the Emade and Agrovila roads. Information on ophidian accidents was obtained through interviews assisted by a semi-structured questionnaire. The determination of the species involved as well as the local nomenclature used in the identification was done with the help of an image board. 41 victims were identified and 58 cases of snake accidents were recorded. Most of the accidents were male (78.0%) farmers (85.4%), aged 30 to 39 years old (25.0%), most affected during the afternoon 2 (44.8%), in the lower limbs (84.5%), during agricultural activities focused on cassava (25.9%), mainly in April, September and December (13.2% each). In 62.1% of the cases there was antipoison therapy. The victims of distant localities that sought medical care by the river took almost six times more than those living in the road region. Only one death from a snakebite was recorded. The monthly distribution of cases followed the pattern of human activities. Bothrops atrox was more involved in the cases (79.3%). The recognition of the species by the community revealed a varied number of popular names, including some synonymies. The use of suitable protective equipment would certainly prevent the vast majority of accidents.