Abstract

NAVARRO, J; CARABALLO, A; SANCHEZ, E  and  RODRIGUEZ-ACOSTA, A. Epidemiological and clinical aspects of snakebite in Monagas state, Venezuela. RFM [online]. 2004, vol.27, n.2, pp.106-110. ISSN 0798-0469.

One hundred fifty-eight patients bitten by venomous snakes were retrospectively studied at Manuel Nuñez Tovar Hospital, Monagas state, Venezuela from January 1990 to December 1999. Most of these patients were rural workers: 124 (78%) males and 34 (22%) females, from one to more than sixty years old. One hundred and five (67%) patients were diagnosed as bitten by Bothrops and 53 (33%) by Crotalus snakes. One hundred twenty-one (76%) were bitten in the legs and 37 (24%) in the arms. January, April, May, September, October, November and December were the months of higher incidence of bothropic envenomations, while crotalic envenomations were March, August and December. This study showed that the prevalence of crotalic envenomations in the Monagas state was higher. Additional prospective epidemiological studies are needed for a better understanding of these findings.

Keywords : Bothrops; Crotalus; Lachesis; Monagas state; Ophidic accident; Venezuela.