Citation

El Hattimy F, Chafiq F, Hami H, Mokhtari A, Soulaymani A, Soulaymani Bencheikh R. Epidemiol. Health 2018; 40: e2018024.

Affiliation

Department of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Korean Society of Epidemiology)

DOI

10.4178/epih.e2018024

PMID

29909610

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Snakebite envenoming is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological features of snake bites and evaluate the time-space trends in snakebite incidence, mortality and case fatality in Morocco.

METHODS: This is a retrospective study of snake bite cases, reported to the Moroccan Poison Control Center between 1999 and 2013.

RESULTS: During the study period, 2,053 people were bitten by snakes in Morocco. Most victims were adults (55.36%). The average age of the patients was 26.48±17.25 years. More than half of the cases (58.07%) were males. About 75% of snake bite accidents happened in rural areas and 85 cases of deaths recorded during this period.The incidence rates remained generally steady over the 15 years, with a marked increase noted since 2012. The mortality rate has increased slightly from 0.02 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 1999 to 0.05 in 2013. The geographical distribution of snake bite cases in the regions of Morocco showed that Tanger-Tétouan had the highest annual incidence rate of snake bites (1.41 bites per 100,000 inhabitants). However, the highest annual mortality rates were recorded in the Guelmim-Es Semara region and Souss-Massa-Drâa (0.09 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants for both regions).

CONCLUSION: The geographical distribution of incidence, mortality and case fatality rates for snake bites in Morocco showed large disparities between regions during the three 5-year periods and therefore high-risk areas for snake bites in the country.

Language: en

Keywords

Epidemiology; Morbidity; Morocco; Mortality; Snake bites; Time-space trends