Focus on snake ecology to fight snakebite
2020; Elsevier BV; Volume: 395; Issue: 10220 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0140-6736(19)32510-3
ISSN1474-547X
AutoresKris A. Murray, Gerardo Martín, Takuya Iwamura,
Tópico(s)Mosquito-borne diseases and control
ResumoThe surge of interest from WHO and global health funders has taken aim at reducing the burden of snakebite, estimated to cause 81 000–138 000 deaths and over 400 000 disabilities annually worldwide.1The LancetSnakebite—emerging from the shadow of neglect.Lancet. 2019; 3932175Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar New funding is primarily aimed at revolutionising treatments.2Wellcome TrustSnakebites: making treatment safe, effective and accessible.https://wellcome.ac.uk/what-we-do/our-work/snakebitesDate accessed: August 15, 2019Google Scholar However, snakebite epidemiology also needs a revolution to match. Most snakebite research and management is already focused on venom—its properties, effects, and antivenoms. The remainder mostly focuses on the analysis of incidence and individual risk factors (eg, male sex, farm workers, poverty).3Gutiérrez JM Calvete JJ Habib AG Harrison RA Williams DJ Warrell DA Snakebite envenoming.Nat Rev Dis Primer. 2017; 317063Crossref PubMed Scopus (462) Google Scholar Far less addressed is understanding snake ecology. This imbalance is akin to trying to combat malaria while overlooking mosquitoes. Snakebite shares many epidemiological similarities with zoonoses: pathogens transmitted from animals to humans. Understanding host and vector ecology in addition to pathogens has been central to control of zoonoses, but the same cannot be said for snakebite. As a result, epidemiological understanding of snakebite remains limited, which in turn hinders the efforts to accurately map, forecast, and mitigate snakebite risk. High quality, quantitative information on the distribution, abundance, behaviour, and habitat preferences of venomous snakes is particularly scarce in the most affected regions. Better knowledge of snake ecology will improve efforts to direct scarce resources more efficiently, enhance prevention strategies, and maximise the impacts of both existing and new snakebite treatment technologies. We declare no competing interests. We received funding from the UK Medical Research Council (project reference MR/P024513/1). Snakebite—emerging from the shadows of neglectEvery year, snakebites kill between 81 000 and 138 000 people and cause long-lasting disabilities in another 400 000 people. This disease burden is likely to be an underestimate given snakebite is rarely notifiable, and many bites and deaths go unrecorded. The burden of snakebite death and disability is equal to that of prostate or cervical cancer, and is greater than any other neglected tropical disease. Yet investment into snakebite has been just £30 million between 2008 and 2017, with limited research, stagnating development of treatments, and declining access to antivenoms in many countries. Full-Text PDF
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