Injuries caused by venomous animals and folk medicine in farmers from Cuité, State of Paraiba, Northeast of Brazil

Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia

Hellyson Fidel Araújo De Oliveira¹  Cristiane Francisca Da Costa¹  Roberto Sassi¹ 

关键词: Caatinga;    Venomous animals;    Snake bites;    Folk medicine;    Zootherapy;    Cuité;    Caatinga;    Animais venenosos;    Acidente ofídico;    Medicina popular;    Zooterapia;    Cuité;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1415-790X2013000300008

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Injuries caused by venomous animals reported by the agricultural workers from the municipality of Cuité, Curimataú region of Paraiba State, Northeast of Brazil, and the practices of folk medicine which they use to treat these cases were studied in this work from June to August 2010. The farmers studied aged from 11 to 90 years. The number of people who reported cases of injury by these animals in their families was high (89.3%). Scorpions, wasps, bees and snakes were the most cited and the extremities of the body (hands, feet, legs and head) were the most affected. The practice of folk medicine to treat these injuries includes various procedures ranging from ritualistic treatments, use of animals or parts of them, and some herbal preparations. The folk treatment was reported as effective by most of the workers injured (63.9%). Body parts of dead snakes are used in various zootherapic treatments. In the imaginary of the agricultural workers the venomous animals are considered hazardous (48.7%) or disgusting (11.3%), and several parts of such animals as the rattle, bee sting or snake leather are used as amulet. Several legends have also been reported about snakes, scorpions and bees. The need for educational activities that aim to clarify these workers about the dangers of such practices is urgent.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License