Contextual analysis and epidemiology of spider bite in southern Santa Catarina State, Brazil

The aim of this work was to conduct an epidemiological and clinical review of 1126 cases of envenoming by spider recorded in the national notifiable diseases information system (SINAN) files of the Municipal Health Secretary of the Criciuma region, Santa Catarina State, Brazil from 1994 to 2006. This work presents a critical analysis carried out by the application of the chi(2) test, with different regional contextual parameters, including the incidence coefficient. Spider envenoming accounts for more than 50% of all cases recorded in the SINAN files for poisonous animals and is the main cause of human envenomation in the Criciuma region. The majority of the spider bites (57.4%) were reported in the hottest months, from December to May. The anatomic region that suffered the most bites was the hand. Nearly 50% of the accidents were recorded in the group aged 20-49 years. The spiders most frequently involved in accidents for all age groups were of the Loxosceles genus. Although the data collected lack further epidemiological and, especially, clinical details, this does not affect the conclusions of the study, which could be used in the planning of actions aimed at improving environmental health. (C) 2009 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.