Hospital admissions due to snake envenomation in the Republic of Cyprus: a 7-year retrospective review

Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology

Research

Daniel Jestrzemski¹  Maria Athanasiadou²  Vasos Scoutellas²  Bernhard Spengler³  Parviz Ghezellou³  Ulrich Kuch⁴  Frank Gessler⁵ 

[1] Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany;Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany;Health Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Health, Nicosia, Republic of Cyprus;Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany;Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany;miprolab Mikrobiologische Diagnostik GmbH, Göttingen, Germany;Institut für angewandte Biotechnologie der Tropen e.V., University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany;

关键词: Snake envenomation;    Epidemiology;    Hospital admissions;    Cyprus;    Paphos;    Blunt-nosed viper;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12995-022-00363-1

 received in 2022-03-21, accepted in 2022-11-02,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSnake envenomation is a major neglected tropical disease, lacking data in many countries including Cyprus, a Mediterranean island inhabited by the medically important blunt-nosed viper (Macrovipera lebetina). Reviewing the 2013–2019 period, we present first-time epidemiological snakebite data in the Republic of Cyprus.MethodsWe obtained data on snake envenomation-related hospital admissions from the Ministry of Health, and population and rainfall data from the Statistical Service of Cyprus and Department of Meteorology websites. Human-viper conflict information was acquired from interviews with 12 representatives of Cypriot institutions.ResultsBetween 2013 and 2019, 288 snake envenomation cases were admitted to public hospitals, averaging 41 people annually. The minimum was 29 cases (2017) and the maximum was 58 (2015). Snake envenomation incidence increased from 4.55 per 100,000 population (2013) to 6.84 (2015), but remained low since 2017 (3.49 in 2019). Between 2000 and 2018, the deaths of one man (73 years), and indirectly, one woman (77 years), were related to snake envenomation. While 266 cases (92%) happened between April and October (the blunt-nosed viper activity period), most envenomations occurred in September (cumulative for 2013–2019), with 88 cases (31%). Snakebite incidence peaked in the 60–69 years age group (9.19 per 100,000 population), and was higher in males (6.85) than in females (2.82). Of all admitted patients, 242 (84%) were discharged within 4 days. Mean hospital stay duration was 2.65 days, with one case of 13 days. Most patients were admitted to the general hospitals in Paphos (51%), Limassol (30%) and Nicosia (11%), which provide secondary healthcare, with the last one providing tertiary healthcare.ConclusionsSnakebite-related deaths are very rare in the Republic of Cyprus. Most envenomation cases happened in late summer (September). Short hospital stays indicate mostly non-severe clinical courses. The hospital admission data suggest that snake envenomation risk is highest in Paphos district. The statistical data hint at males and middle- to older-aged people being at highest risk, whereas from our interview data we assume that outdoor workers are at higher risk than other occupational groups.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

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