Snakebite (poisoning by venomous snakes) is common in rural areas around the world, affecting 250 million people annually, of which 40 have sequelae and 8 die. It is estimated that it is.A research group led by Assistant Professor Chavez Sanabria Luis Fernando of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University investigated the relationship between serpentine bite and poverty and climate change, and the results were obtained on September 5, 2015 (Eastern Standard Time). It was published in the electronic journal Science Advances.

Female Bothrops asper * From the source

Female Bothrops asper * From the source

Because snakes are poikilotherms, their behavior is affected by climate change.For example, it has been reported that warming increases the predation pressure of snakes, which may be related to snakebite accidents in humans.The research group also focused on the link between climate change and poverty snakebite, as many parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases found in tropical regions are associated with poverty.

The research group conducted a survey of snakebites reported in Costa Rica from 2005 to 2013.The climate of Costa Rica is influenced by El Nino-Southern Vibration (ENSO), and it was found that fluctuations in the number of snakebite cases are related to ENSO.In addition, if the temperature continues to be high, it tends to occur after that, and it tends to decrease significantly after a year with heavy rainfall, but nevertheless, it occurs intensively in the area with the highest rainfall, and it is also a poor area. It became clear that it would occur more often.These results suggest that snakebite, like many tropical diseases, is as prone to occur in the poor and is affected by climate change, and Assistant Professor Chavez and colleagues call for further research. ..

Source:[Nagasaki University] Chavez Sanabria, Assistant Professor, Institute of Tropical Medicine, et al.'S paper on the relationship between snake bite and climate change is published in the electronic journal Science Advances.

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