EPIDEMIOLOGY OF THE ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY ANIMALS OF TOXICOLOGICAL INTEREST IN RIO GRANDE DO SUL

HUDSON BARRETO ABELLA(1)

(1)Centro de Informação Toxicológica do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Estadual de Produção e Pesquisa Saúde, Secretaria Estadual de Saúde.

The Centro de Informação Toxicológica do Rio Grande do Sul is an unit of medical emergency that has as a goal the assistance to toxic accidents occurred in the State. It acts in 24-hour duty regimen through the free call number 08007213000 to all Brazil. In the period of 1980 to 2005 CIT/R took care of 286,478 occurrences. The total of human exhibitions which stood out in this period was of the accidents with medications (62,071 requests - 28.1%) and with venomous animals (61,172 requests - 27,7%). The occurrences seasonality with venomous animals was larger in hot months and smaller in the winter. Analyzing the records of 2005, 18.883 human intoxications are reported. The cases of human accidents with venomous animals represented 5.604 records where 29% had favorable evolution and 3% evolved to death. Highlights in this group: The accidents with spiders - 1.826 occurrences of which 520 reported as accidents by Loxosceles sp and 475 by Phoneutria sp; accidents with snakes - 1,010 occurrences reported of which 955 with the Bothrops sort; scorpions - 349 registers of which 286 with Bothriurus bonariensis, Tityus serrulatus 10, Tityus costatus 27; insects - 459; caterpillars - 878; aquatic - 14; other venomous animals - 264 and indeterminate venomous animals - 804. The age frame with larger number of records corresponds to people with age up to 19(3,865 registers - 69%). The anatomical region with larger number of occurrences reported with spiders and scorpions were the upper and lower limbs. In the accidents with snake it is the lower limbs (72%). In the accidents with caterpillars it is the upper limbs ( 62%).

KEY WORDS:   Epidemiology, snake, scorpions, spider, animal poisoning

ELECTRONIC ADDRESS: hudson-barreto@fepps.rs.gov.br