Clinical-epidemiological profile of snakebite accidents in Brazil

Abstract

Objective. Analyze scientific articles in online journals about the epidemiological aspects of snakebites in Brazil, to obtain better and more accurate information on the subject. Method. Descriptive research outlined on an integrative literature review. The steps were: formulation of the guiding question, search for studies in all databases indexed to the BVS, SciELO and PubMed. Results. 105 articles were found and 29 were elected for data collection. Most of the studies were in the Northeast and North regions, during the period 2007 and 2011. About the victims, most of them are male, live in rural areas and are in the age group of 20 to 49 years. Conclusion. Ophidianism is still a public health problem in Brazil that lacks studies and actions focused on the topic based on its associated risk and protection factors, in order to minimize this damage in the national scenario.