Using geographical information systems to identify populations in need of improved accessibility to antivenom treatment for snakebite envenoming in costa rica.
Hansson, Erik LU ; Sasa, Mahmood ; Mattisson, Kristoffer LU
; Robles, Arodys
and Gutiérrez, José María
(2013)
In PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
7(1).
- Abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Snakebite accidents are an important health problem in rural areas of tropical countries worldwide, including Costa Rica, where most bites are caused by the pit-viper Bothrops asper. The treatment of these potentially fatal accidents is based on the timely administration of specific antivenom. In many regions of the world, insufficient health care systems and lack of antivenom in remote and poor areas where snakebites are common, means that efficient treatment is unavailable for many snakebite victims, leading to unnecessary mortality and morbidity. In this study, geographical information systems (GIS) were used to identify populations in Costa Rica with a need of improved access to antivenom treatment: those living in areas... (More)
- INTRODUCTION: Snakebite accidents are an important health problem in rural areas of tropical countries worldwide, including Costa Rica, where most bites are caused by the pit-viper Bothrops asper. The treatment of these potentially fatal accidents is based on the timely administration of specific antivenom. In many regions of the world, insufficient health care systems and lack of antivenom in remote and poor areas where snakebites are common, means that efficient treatment is unavailable for many snakebite victims, leading to unnecessary mortality and morbidity. In this study, geographical information systems (GIS) were used to identify populations in Costa Rica with a need of improved access to antivenom treatment: those living in areas with a high risk of snakebites and long time to reach antivenom treatment. METHOD/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: POPULATIONS LIVING IN AREAS WITH HIGH RISK OF SNAKEBITES WERE IDENTIFIED USING TWO APPROACHES: one based on the district-level reported incidence, and another based on mapping environmental factors favoring B. asper presence. Time to reach treatment using ambulance was estimated using cost surface analysis, thereby enabling adjustment of transportation speed by road availability and quality, topography and land use. By mapping populations in high risk of snakebites and the estimated time to treatment, populations with need of improved treatment access were identified. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates the usefulness of GIS for improving treatment of snakebites. By mapping reported incidence, risk factors, location of existing treatment resources, and the time estimated to reach these for at-risk populations, rational allocation of treatment resources is facilitated. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3560207
- author
- Hansson, Erik
LU
; Sasa, Mahmood
; Mattisson, Kristoffer
LU
; Robles, Arodys
and Gutiérrez, José María
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
- volume
- 7
- issue
- 1
- article number
- e2009
- publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000314360200037
- pmid:23383352
- scopus:84873497485
- pmid:23383352
- ISSN
- 1935-2735
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002009
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 73b2ae07-a903-41f9-b4d9-1f10a118612e (old id 3560207)
- alternative location
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23383352?dopt=Abstract
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:21:35
- date last changed
- 2023-04-28 12:14:13
@article{73b2ae07-a903-41f9-b4d9-1f10a118612e,
abstract = {{INTRODUCTION: Snakebite accidents are an important health problem in rural areas of tropical countries worldwide, including Costa Rica, where most bites are caused by the pit-viper Bothrops asper. The treatment of these potentially fatal accidents is based on the timely administration of specific antivenom. In many regions of the world, insufficient health care systems and lack of antivenom in remote and poor areas where snakebites are common, means that efficient treatment is unavailable for many snakebite victims, leading to unnecessary mortality and morbidity. In this study, geographical information systems (GIS) were used to identify populations in Costa Rica with a need of improved access to antivenom treatment: those living in areas with a high risk of snakebites and long time to reach antivenom treatment. METHOD/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: POPULATIONS LIVING IN AREAS WITH HIGH RISK OF SNAKEBITES WERE IDENTIFIED USING TWO APPROACHES: one based on the district-level reported incidence, and another based on mapping environmental factors favoring B. asper presence. Time to reach treatment using ambulance was estimated using cost surface analysis, thereby enabling adjustment of transportation speed by road availability and quality, topography and land use. By mapping populations in high risk of snakebites and the estimated time to treatment, populations with need of improved treatment access were identified. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates the usefulness of GIS for improving treatment of snakebites. By mapping reported incidence, risk factors, location of existing treatment resources, and the time estimated to reach these for at-risk populations, rational allocation of treatment resources is facilitated.}},
author = {{Hansson, Erik and Sasa, Mahmood and Mattisson, Kristoffer and Robles, Arodys and Gutiérrez, José María}},
issn = {{1935-2735}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
series = {{PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases}},
title = {{Using geographical information systems to identify populations in need of improved accessibility to antivenom treatment for snakebite envenoming in costa rica.}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0002009}},
doi = {{10.1371/journal.pntd.0002009}},
volume = {{7}},
year = {{2013}},
}