Venomous animal accidents and phytotherapeutic measures adopted by the rural population in Alagoas backlands (Brazil)

• Autor(a) principal: Baltar, Solma Lúcia Souto Maior de Araújo
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Magalhães, Cledson dos Santos, Bezerra, Maria Lusia de Morais Belo, de Farias, Maria Betânia Monteiro, Randau, Karina Perrelli
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano
• Texto Completo: https://revistas.unilasalle.edu.br/index.php/saude_desenvolvimento/article/view/6786
• topic: Snake Bites; Poison; Phytotherapy; Public Health; Mordidas de Cobras; Veneno; Fitoterapia; Saúde Pública

Objectives: Evaluate the epidemiological aspects of accidents with venomous animals, focusing on snakebites and phytotherapic measures adopted by the rural population in municipalities in the interior of Alagoas, Brazil.Material and methods: This comprises a quantitative, descriptive research, carried out between 2016 and 2017 in the Alagoas backlands. The “snowball sampling” method was used to select the participants. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using the Excel 2007 software, and the relationship between variables was evaluated by Spearman’s correlation.Results: Of the 600 reported accidents with venomous animals, the most prevalent were caused by snakes (47.00%) and scorpions (31.44%), while 21.56% were caused by other animals. A weak correlation (r = 0.33) was observed between municipality and job occupation. Of the 282 registered snakebites, the Viperidae family was predominant with 74.46% of the cases. Most accidents ocurred with members of the Bothrops/Bothrocophias (36.52%) and Crotalus (28.37%) genera. The medicinal plants used herein were barbatimão (52.00%), paratudo (21.00%), bellyache bush (15.00%) and sweet potato (12.00%), applied as leaf macerations (60.00 %), tea compresses (29.50%) and garrafada (10.50%).Conclusion: Medicinal plants are used in the region of Alagoas as a phytotherapic alternative to minimize the symptoms and effects of snake venom.