Strauch Marcelo Abrahão, Souza Guilherme Jones, Pereira Jordana Nahar, Ramos Tyelli Dos Santos, Cesar Marcelo Oliveira, Tomaz Marcelo Amorim, Monteiro-Machado Marcos, Patrão-Neto Fernando Chagas, Melo Paulo A
Vital Brazil Institute, Niterói, RJ Brazil.
2Laboratory of Pharmacology of Toxins, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Center of Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil.
J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis. 2018 Apr 10;24:10. doi: 10.1186/s40409-018-0148-9. eCollection 2018.
Bites provoked by the genus represent less than 1% of snakebite cases notified in Brazil, a tiny fraction compared with other genus such as and , which together represent almost 80% of accidents. In addition to their less aggressive behavior, habits and morphology of coral snakes are determinant factors for such low incidence of accidents. Although bites are rare, victims must be rescued and hospitalized in a short period of time, because this type of envenoming may evolve to a progressive muscle weakness and acute respiratory failure.
We report an accident caused by involving a 28-year-old Caucasian sailor man bitten on the hand. The accident occurred in a recreational camp because people believed the snake was not venomous. The victim presented neurological symptoms 2 h after the accident and was taken to the hospital, where he received antielapidic serum 10 h after the bite. After the antivenom treatment, the patient presented clinical evolution without complications and was discharged 4 days later.
We reinforce that it is essential to have a health care structure suitable for the treatment of snakebite. Besides, the manipulation of these animals should only be carried out by a team of well-equipped and trained professionals, and even so with special attention.
在巴西报告的蛇咬伤病例中，由珊瑚蛇属引发的咬伤占比不到1%，与蝮蛇属和眼镜蛇属等其他属相比，这一比例微乎其微，后两者引发的咬伤事故占总数的近80%。除了攻击性较弱外，珊瑚蛇的习性和形态也是导致此类事故发生率较低的决定性因素。尽管珊瑚蛇咬伤很少见，但受害者必须在短时间内得到救治并住院，因为这种类型的中毒可能会发展为进行性肌无力和急性呼吸衰竭。
我们报告一起由珊瑚蛇引发的事故，受害者是一名28岁的白人男性水手，手部被咬伤。事故发生在一个休闲营地，因为人们认为这条蛇无毒。受害者在事故发生2小时后出现神经症状，并被送往医院，在咬伤后10小时接受了抗蛇毒血清治疗。经过抗蛇毒血清治疗后，患者病情好转，无并发症发生，4天后出院。
我们强调，必须具备适合治疗蛇咬伤的医疗保健结构。此外，对这些动物的处理只能由装备精良且训练有素的专业团队进行，即便如此也要格外小心。
