Profile of work accidents caused by venomous animals in Brazil's Federal District from 2009 to 2019.

Abstract

IntroductionThe high numbers of accidents involving venomous animals in tropical countries is a major public health problem and has prompted the World Health Organization to place them on its list of neglected tropical diseases. The Notifiable Diseases Information System shows that the number of notifications of accidents involving venomous animals increases every year. In Brazil, accidents involving venomous animals are the number one cause of human intoxications. The public health importance of accidents and their consequential importance for workers is clearly illustrated by the more than 100,000 accidents and almost 200 deaths that occur annually.ObjectivesTo observe and analyze the profile of accidents involving venomous animals in Brazil’s Federal District.MethodsA retrospective descriptive case series study of data from four databases containing information on accidents involving venomous animals. In addition to analyzing each one, they were also compared to each other.ResultsA total of 11,376 accidents involving venomous animals from 2009 to 2019 were registered in the Federal District. There were 363 occupational accidents and zero deaths in the period. There were discrepancies between each of the databases analyzed.ConclusionsSubnotification and discrepancies should be better evaluated and subsequently resolved by the managers of each database. Actively seeking information and better organization of the organs responsible for database management are possible solutions to the current problems.