Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36544155›Full record

ArticleJournal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England)2022

Hospital admissions due to snake envenomation in the Republic of Cyprus: a 7-year retrospective review.

Daniel Jestrzemski, Maria Athanasiadou, Vasos Scoutellas, Parviz Ghezellou, Bernhard Spengler, Frank Gessler, Ulrich Kuch

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Principles of occupational medicine: an educational case study of hazards and risks for Dr "Indiana" Jones.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
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  8. Venomics of the milos viper (Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2023
    Article
  9. Natural toxins and One Health: a review.Science in One Health · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Daniel JestrzemskiFaculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. danjetski@gmx.de.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0652-3016
Maria AthanasiadouHealth Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Health, Nicosia, Republic of Cyprus.
Vasos ScoutellasHealth Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Health, Nicosia, Republic of Cyprus.
Parviz GhezellouInstitute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5924-9618
Bernhard SpenglerInstitute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0179-5653
Frank Gesslermiprolab Mikrobiologische Diagnostik GmbH, Göttingen, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1917-277X
Ulrich KuchInstitute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5091-7752
Goethe University Frankfurt · DEJustus-Liebig-Universität Gießen · DEMinistry of Health · CYUniversity of Göttingen · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSnake envenomation is a major neglected tropical disease, lacking data in many countries including Cyprus, a Mediterranean island inhabited by the medically important blunt-nosed viper (Macrovipera lebetina). Reviewing the 2013-2019 period, we present first-time epidemiological snakebite data in the Republic of Cyprus.

methodsWe obtained data on snake envenomation-related hospital admissions from the Ministry of Health, and population and rainfall data from the Statistical Service of Cyprus and Department of Meteorology websites. Human-viper conflict information was acquired from interviews with 12 representatives of Cypriot institutions.

resultsBetween 2013 and 2019, 288 snake envenomation cases were admitted to public hospitals, averaging 41 people annually. The minimum was 29 cases (2017) and the maximum was 58 (2015). Snake envenomation incidence increased from 4.55 per 100,000 population (2013) to 6.84 (2015), but remained low since 2017 (3.49 in 2019). Between 2000 and 2018, the deaths of one man (73 years), and indirectly, one woman (77 years), were related to snake envenomation. While 266 cases (92%) happened between April and October (the blunt-nosed viper activity period), most envenomations occurred in September (cumulative for 2013-2019), with 88 cases (31%). Snakebite incidence peaked in the 60-69 years age group (9.19 per 100,000 population), and was higher in males (6.85) than in females (2.82). Of all admitted patients, 242 (84%) were discharged within 4 days. Mean hospital stay duration was 2.65 days, with one case of 13 days. Most patients were admitted to the general hospitals in Paphos (51%), Limassol (30%) and Nicosia (11%), which provide secondary healthcare, with the last one providing tertiary healthcare.

conclusionsSnakebite-related deaths are very rare in the Republic of Cyprus. Most envenomation cases happened in late summer (September). Short hospital stays indicate mostly non-severe clinical courses. The hospital admission data suggest that snake envenomation risk is highest in Paphos district. The statistical data hint at males and middle- to older-aged people being at highest risk, whereas from our interview data we assume that outdoor workers are at higher risk than other occupational groups.

Indexed as

Blunt-nosed viperCyprusEpidemiologyHospital admissionsPaphosSnake envenomation

Identifiers

PMID36544155
PMCPMC9768951
OpenAlexW4312129090

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.