Epidemiological profile of accidents by venomous animals reported in the State of Minas Gerais during the period 2010-2015

Abstract

Accidents involving venomous animals are a serious public health problem and are therefore considered to be neglected tropical diseases, which in most cases affect low-income populations living in rural areas. The main responsible for these accidents are arachnids and snakes. This manuscript aims to identify the epidemiological profile of accidents caused by venomous animals reported in the State of Minas Gerais. This was a descriptive, exploratory, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, carried out in the public access database of the Department of Information Technology of the Unified Health System. The sample consisted of 146,508 accidents recorded during the period between 2010 and 2015. There was prevalence in the year 2014, during the month of January. It was observed predominance of males, between 20-39 years old, with no schooling, brown and non-applicability of the gestational condition. The accident produced by scorpions had a higher number of notifications. In 48.8% of the victims, the time between the sting and the care was less than one hour. Regarding the final classification and its evolution, light accidents and cure were predominant, respectively. Therefore, young adult males are more vulnerable to accidents, less predisposed to symptomatic development, and more likely to be cured when seen in a timely manner. The scorpion is the main vector of these accidents, as well as the main cause of death.