Faith healing: the threat of "Surucucu" and the local cure of Amazon floodplain dwellers.
Bothrops atrox
Várzeas
Amazon River dolphin fat
Folk medicine
Home treatment
Jararaca
Natural medicine
Snake
Snakebite accident
Zootherapy
Journal
Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine
ISSN: 1746-4269
Titre abrégé: J Ethnobiol Ethnomed
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101245794
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
23 Aug 2024
23 Aug 2024
Historique:
received:
01
05
2024
accepted:
25
07
2024
medline:
24
8
2024
pubmed:
24
8
2024
entrez:
23
8
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Snakebites are considered a neglected tropical disease responsible for many accidents, some fatal, and are related to poverty. The Brazilian Amazon has the highest incidence of snakebites per inhabitant, with the state of Pará having the most reported cases. For those who have difficult access to hospitals and pharmacies, this issue is even more urgent. In this research, we worked together with the population of five riverine communities in Aritapera (Santarém-PA), a fluvial island located in the Lower Amazon floodplain (várzeas), in order to identify the species of venomous snakes and create a record of snakebites in the region and treatments carried out. Dwellers reported a high frequency of encounters throughout the year and mentioned five venomous ethnospecies, although we identified only Bothrops atrox. Approximately 28.7% of the participants had already been bitten, and in 15.8% of the interviews, they mentioned deaths from snakebites. The treatments varied between hospitalization (42.8%), home treatments (23.8%), both together (25.4%) and healers (7.9%). There were cases where no treatment, or just religious treatment, was performed. In general, no serious sequelae were reported. Although home treatments were more common in the past, many people maintained the practice of using them before going to the hospital. Among the most used are Pau X and the fat of the Amazon River Dolphin. The latter appears to be a recent discovery by locals and is considered very efficient both for humans and animals. Difficult access to health centers, a lack of energy to store antivenom and a high rate of encounters with snake place Aritapera dwellers in a vulnerable situation regarding snakebite accidents. In this context, they discovered treatments that improved their well-being until hospitalization. As the Amazon River dolphin is an endangered species, the use of its fat requires attention. In this sense, the dissemination of this knowledge is important to encourage studies that investigate which properties of this fat act as counterpoisons. By discovering substitutes that can be incorporated in other rural and remote communities, an economic and ecologically viable option for the health of residents can be promoted, in addition to valuing traditional knowledge.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Snakebites are considered a neglected tropical disease responsible for many accidents, some fatal, and are related to poverty. The Brazilian Amazon has the highest incidence of snakebites per inhabitant, with the state of Pará having the most reported cases. For those who have difficult access to hospitals and pharmacies, this issue is even more urgent.
METHODS
METHODS
In this research, we worked together with the population of five riverine communities in Aritapera (Santarém-PA), a fluvial island located in the Lower Amazon floodplain (várzeas), in order to identify the species of venomous snakes and create a record of snakebites in the region and treatments carried out.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Dwellers reported a high frequency of encounters throughout the year and mentioned five venomous ethnospecies, although we identified only Bothrops atrox. Approximately 28.7% of the participants had already been bitten, and in 15.8% of the interviews, they mentioned deaths from snakebites. The treatments varied between hospitalization (42.8%), home treatments (23.8%), both together (25.4%) and healers (7.9%). There were cases where no treatment, or just religious treatment, was performed. In general, no serious sequelae were reported. Although home treatments were more common in the past, many people maintained the practice of using them before going to the hospital. Among the most used are Pau X and the fat of the Amazon River Dolphin. The latter appears to be a recent discovery by locals and is considered very efficient both for humans and animals.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
Difficult access to health centers, a lack of energy to store antivenom and a high rate of encounters with snake place Aritapera dwellers in a vulnerable situation regarding snakebite accidents. In this context, they discovered treatments that improved their well-being until hospitalization. As the Amazon River dolphin is an endangered species, the use of its fat requires attention. In this sense, the dissemination of this knowledge is important to encourage studies that investigate which properties of this fat act as counterpoisons. By discovering substitutes that can be incorporated in other rural and remote communities, an economic and ecologically viable option for the health of residents can be promoted, in addition to valuing traditional knowledge.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39180130
doi: 10.1186/s13002-024-00715-7
pii: 10.1186/s13002-024-00715-7
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
79Subventions
Organisme : Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
ID : 151244/2022-7
Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
Références
Nogueira CC, et al. Atlas of Brazilian snakes: verified point-locality maps to mitigate the wallacean shortfall in megadiverse snake fauna. S Am J Herpetol. 2019;14:1–274.
doi: 10.2994/SAJH-D-19-00120.1
Silva TP, et al. Espécies vegetais utilizadas no bloqueio da atividade hemorrágica induzida pelos venenos de serpentes do gênero Bothrops sp.: uma revisão da literatura. Scientia Amazonia. 2017;6(2):36–57.
Moura VM, Mourão RHV, Santos MC. Acidentes ofídicos na Região Norte do Brasil e o uso de espécies vegetais como tratamento alternativo e complementar à soroterapia. Scientia Amazonia. 2015;4(1):73–84.
doi: 10.19178/Sci.Amazon.v4i1.73-84
da Saúde M. Aspectos Epidemiológicos do ofidismo no Brasil em 2022. Boletim Epidemiológico. 2023;54(18):19.
Harrison RA, et al. Snake envenoming: a disease of poverty. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2009;3(12): e569.
pubmed: 20027216
pmcid: 2791200
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000569
Chippaux JP. Incidence and mortality due to snakebite in the Americas. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2017;11(6): e0005662.
pubmed: 28636631
pmcid: 5495519
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005662
Brasil Acidente Ofídico. Guia de Vigilância em Saúde. 5ªed–Brasília: Ministério da Saúde; 2022. 1126.
Wen FH, et al. Snakebites and scorpion stings in the Brazilian Amazon: identifying research priorities for a largely neglected problem. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(5): e0003701.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003701
Calvete JJ, et al. Snake population venomics and antivenomics of Bothrops atrox: Paedomorphism alongs its transamazonian dispersal and implications of geohraphic venom variability on snakebite management. J Proteom. 2011;74(4):510–27.
doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2011.01.003
Trento MVC, et al. In vivo and in vitro prospection of the anti-ophidic properties exercised by the extracts of Jacaranda decurrens L. Acta Scientiarum. Biol Sci. 2021;43: e57016.
Moura VM, Mourão RHV. Aspectos do ofidismo no Brasil e plantas medicinais utilizadas como complemento à soroterapia. Scientia Amazon. 2012;1(3):17–26.
Figueiredo N. Os, “bichos” que curam: os animais e a medicina de “folk” em Belém do Pará. Mus. Para. Emílio Goeldi série Antropol. 1994;10(1):75–91.
Alves RRN, Alves HN. The faunal drugstore: animal-based remedies used in traditional medicines in Latin America. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2011;7:9–43.
pubmed: 21385357
pmcid: 3060860
doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-7-9
Ferreira RR, Silva RE. Acordo de pesca como gestão dos recursos: o caso da Ilha de São Miguel, Santarém, Pará. Amazôn Revista de Antropol (online). 2017;9(1):156–78.
doi: 10.18542/amazonica.v9i1.5487
Miorando PS, Rebêlo GH, Pignati MT, Pezzuti JCB. Effects of community-based management on amazon river turtles: a case study of Podocnemis sextuberculata in the Lower Amazon Floodplain, Pará, Brazil. Chelonian Conserv Biol. 2013;12(1):143–50.
doi: 10.2744/CCB-1011.1
Sioli H. Sobre a sedimentação na várzea do Baixo Amazonas. Boletim Técnico do Instituto Agronomico do Norte. 1951;24:44–108.
Pezzuti JCB, Lima JP, Silva DF, Begossi A. Uses and taboos of turtles and tortoises along Rio Negro, Amazon basin. J Ethnobiol. 2010;30(1):153–68.
doi: 10.2993/0278-0771-30.1.153
Barboza RSL, Pezzuti JCB. Etnoictiologia dos pescadores artesanais da Resex Marinha Caeté- Taperaçu, Pará: aspectos relacionados com etologia, usos de hábitat e migração de peixes da família Sciaenidae. Sitientibus série Ciências Biológicas. 2011;11(2):133–41.
doi: 10.13102/scb104
Pignati MT, Fernandes LF, Miorando PS, Pezzuti JCB. Hatching and emergence patterns in the Tello-Spoted river turtle, Podocnemis unifilis (Testudines: Podocnemididae), in the Várzea Floodplains of the lower Amazon River in Santarém. Brazil Chelonian Conserv Biol. 2013;12(1):127–33.
doi: 10.2744/CCB-0953.1
Huntington PH. Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecol Appl. 2000;10(5):1270–4.
doi: 10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[1270:UTEKIS]2.0.CO;2
Freitas, M.A. Serpentes Brasileiras. Bahia. Proquigel Química. 2003; 160p.
Secco H, et al. Intentional snake road-kill: a case study using fake snakes on a Brazilian road. Trop Conserv Sci. 2014;7(3):561–71.
doi: 10.1177/194008291400700313
Crump ML. Eye of newt and toe of frog, adder’s fork and lizard’s leg: the lore and mythology of amphibians and reptiles. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2015. p. 320.
doi: 10.7208/chicago/9780226116143.001.0001
Cosendey BN, Salomão SR. Mídia e educação: Os ofídios por trás das câmeras–répteis ou monstros? Revista Eletrônica de Educação. 2016;10(3):251–65.
doi: 10.14244/198271991708
Cunha OR, Nascimento FP. As serpentes peçonhentas do gênero Bothrops (jararacas) e Lachesis (surucucu) da região leste do Pará - Ofídios da Amazônia. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi. 1975;83(viii):28.
Vasconcelos Neto LB, Garcia da Silva AS, Brito IA, Chalkidis M. O conhecimento tradicional sobre as serpentes em uma comunidade ribeirinha no centro-leste da Amazônia. Ethnoscientia. 2018;3:1–7.
doi: 10.18542/ethnoscientia.v3i0.10206
Froese, R.; Pauly, D. Fishbase. 2023. fishbase.org. Accessed in February 2024.
Azevedo PA, Barros FB. Comida, remédio, renda: conhecimentos e usos da mucura (Didelphis marsupialis) por comunidades ribeirinhas da várzea amazônica. Amazôn Revista de Antropol. 2013;5(3):862–78.
doi: 10.18542/amazonica.v5i3.1608
Puorto G. Divulgação científica sobre animais peçonhentos no Brasil. Gazeta Médica da Bahia. 2011;82:33–9.
Uetz, P.; Hallermann, J. The Reptile Database. 2024. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/ . Accessed in April 24.
Monteiro WM, et al. Bothrops atrox, the most important snake involved in human envenomings in the amazon: how venomics contributes to the knowledge of snake biology and clinical toxinology. Toxicon. 2020;X6(2020):100037.
doi: 10.1016/j.toxcx.2020.100037
Fraga R, et al. Habitat selection by Bothrops atrox (Serpentes: Viperidae) in Central Amazonia. Brazil Copeia. 2013;4:684–90.
doi: 10.1643/CE-11-098
Joint Research Centre. Recorded temperatures and heatwaves bring unprecedented drought to the Amazon basin. EU Science Hub. 2023. https://joint-research-center.ec.europa.eu . Accessed in: February 2024.
Silveira PV, Nishioka SA. Venomous snake bite without clinical envenomation (“dry bite”). A neglected problem in Brazil. Trop Geogr Med. 1995;47(2):82–5.
pubmed: 8592769
World Health Organization. Guidelines for the Prevention and Clinical Management of Snakebites in Africa. 2010. http://www.who.int/ipcs/poisons/snakebite/en/ . Accessed in July 02.
Santos-Fita D, Costa-Neto EM, Schiavetti A. Constitution of ethnozoological semantic domains: meaning and inclusiveness of the lexeme “insect” for the inhabitants of the county of Pedra Branca, Bahia State, Brazil. An Acad Bras Ciênc. 2011;83(2):589–98.
pubmed: 21670881
doi: 10.1590/S0001-37652011000200018
Alves RRN, Rosa IL. Use of Tucuxi Dolphin Sotalia fluviatilis for medicinal and magic/religious purposes in North of Brazil. Hum Ecol. 2008;36:443–7.
doi: 10.1007/s10745-008-9174-5
Butantan. Como é produzido o soro contra o veneno das cobras? Portal do Instituto Butantan. 2021. https://butantan.gov.br Accessed in: February 2024.
Alves RRN, Filho GAP. Commercialization and use of snakes in North and Northeastern Brazil: implications for conservation and management. Biodivers Conserv. 2007;16:969–85.
doi: 10.1007/s10531-006-9036-7
Costa-Neto EM. Implications and applications of folk zootherapy in the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. Sustain Dev. 2004;12:161–74.
doi: 10.1002/sd.234
Abrão CF, et al. Zootherapeutic practices in the Amazon Region: chemical and pharmacological studies of Green-anaconda fat (Eunectes murinus) and alternatives for species conservation. Ethnobiol Conserv. 2021;10:15. https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2021-02-10.15-1-27 .
doi: 10.15451/ec2021-02-10.15-1-27
Alves RRN, Rosa IL. Why study the use of animal products in traditional medicines? J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2005;1:5.
pubmed: 16270931
pmcid: 1277085
doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-1-5
Feitosa EL, et al., et al. Older age and time to medical assistance are associated with severity and mortality of snakebites in the Brazilian Amazon: a case-control study. PLoS ONE. 2015;10(7):0132237. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132237 .
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132237
Siciliano S, Viana MC, Emin-Lima R, Bonvicino CR. Dolphins, love and enchantment: tracing the use of cetacean products in Brazil. Front Mar Sci. 2018. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00107 .
doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00107