Molesworth Anna M, Harrison Robert, Theakston R David, Lalloo David G
Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, UK.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2003 Mar-Apr;97(2):188-92. doi: 10.1016/s0035-9203(03)90115-5.
Snakebite is an important health problem in many parts of rural West Africa where the carpet or sawscaled viper, Echis ocellatus, is responsible for most of the morbidity and mortality. Marked seasonal and geographical variation in the incidence of snakebite suggests an association with environmental factors that could potentially identify high-risk areas and inform health care decision making. This preliminary investigation describes a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach to risk mapping that identifies environmental variables potentially associated with variation in snakebite incidence rates at a number of health facilities in northern Ghana and Nigeria and which has been used to create a preliminary risk map of the potential probability of high snakebite incidence for West Africa. Detailed and extensive further studies will enable the more reliable estimation of snakebite incidence at a local level across the region.
在西非农村的许多地区，蛇咬伤是一个重要的健康问题，其中地毯蝰蛇或锯鳞蝰蛇（Echis ocellatus）导致了大部分的发病和死亡情况。蛇咬伤发病率存在显著的季节性和地理差异，这表明其与环境因素有关联，而这些环境因素有可能识别出高风险地区，并为医疗保健决策提供依据。这项初步调查描述了一种地理信息系统（GIS）风险绘图方法，该方法识别出了与加纳北部和尼日利亚一些医疗机构蛇咬伤发病率变化可能相关的环境变量，并已被用于绘制西非蛇咬伤高发病率潜在概率的初步风险地图。详细而广泛的进一步研究将能够更可靠地估计该地区地方层面的蛇咬伤发病率。
