The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka.
BACKGROUND:Snakebite is a major problem affecting the rural poor in many of the poorest countries in the tropics. However, the scale of the socio-economic burden has rarely been studied. We undertook a comprehensive assessment of the burden in Sri Lanka. METHODS:Data from a representative nation-wid...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a76ad6e09dc7444499b95766317a30aa 2023-05-15T15:11:24+02:00 The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka. Anuradhani Kasturiratne Arunasalam Pathmeswaran A Rajitha Wickremasinghe Shaluka F Jayamanne Andrew Dawson Geoff K Isbister Hithanadura Janaka de Silva David G Lalloo 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005647 https://doaj.org/article/a76ad6e09dc7444499b95766317a30aa EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5500261?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005647 https://doaj.org/article/a76ad6e09dc7444499b95766317a30aa PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 7, p e0005647 (2017) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005647 2022-12-31T16:05:24Z BACKGROUND:Snakebite is a major problem affecting the rural poor in many of the poorest countries in the tropics. However, the scale of the socio-economic burden has rarely been studied. We undertook a comprehensive assessment of the burden in Sri Lanka. METHODS:Data from a representative nation-wide community based household survey were used to estimate the number of bites and deaths nationally, and household and out of pocket costs were derived from household questionnaires. Health system costs were obtained from hospital cost accounting systems and estimates of antivenom usage. DALYs lost to snakebite were estimated using standard approaches using disability weights for poisoning. FINDINGS:79% of victims suffered economic loss following a snakebite with a median out of pocket expenditure of $11.82 (IQR 2-28.57) and a median estimated loss of income of $28.57 and $33.21 for those in employment or self-employment, respectively. Family members also lost income to help care for patients. Estimated health system costs for Sri Lanka were $ 10,260,652 annually. The annual estimated total number of DALYS was 11,101 to 15,076 per year for envenoming following snakebite. INTERPRETATION:Snakebite places a considerable economic burden on the households of victims in Sri Lanka, despite a health system which is accessible and free at the point of care. The disability burden is also considerable, similar to that of meningitis or dengue, although the relatively low case fatality rate and limited physical sequelae following bites by Sri Lankan snakes means that this burden may be less than in countries on the African continent. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 11 7 e0005647 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Anuradhani Kasturiratne Arunasalam Pathmeswaran A Rajitha Wickremasinghe Shaluka F Jayamanne Andrew Dawson Geoff K Isbister Hithanadura Janaka de Silva David G Lalloo The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND:Snakebite is a major problem affecting the rural poor in many of the poorest countries in the tropics. However, the scale of the socio-economic burden has rarely been studied. We undertook a comprehensive assessment of the burden in Sri Lanka. METHODS:Data from a representative nation-wide community based household survey were used to estimate the number of bites and deaths nationally, and household and out of pocket costs were derived from household questionnaires. Health system costs were obtained from hospital cost accounting systems and estimates of antivenom usage. DALYs lost to snakebite were estimated using standard approaches using disability weights for poisoning. FINDINGS:79% of victims suffered economic loss following a snakebite with a median out of pocket expenditure of $11.82 (IQR 2-28.57) and a median estimated loss of income of $28.57 and $33.21 for those in employment or self-employment, respectively. Family members also lost income to help care for patients. Estimated health system costs for Sri Lanka were $ 10,260,652 annually. The annual estimated total number of DALYS was 11,101 to 15,076 per year for envenoming following snakebite. INTERPRETATION:Snakebite places a considerable economic burden on the households of victims in Sri Lanka, despite a health system which is accessible and free at the point of care. The disability burden is also considerable, similar to that of meningitis or dengue, although the relatively low case fatality rate and limited physical sequelae following bites by Sri Lankan snakes means that this burden may be less than in countries on the African continent. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Anuradhani Kasturiratne Arunasalam Pathmeswaran A Rajitha Wickremasinghe Shaluka F Jayamanne Andrew Dawson Geoff K Isbister Hithanadura Janaka de Silva David G Lalloo |
author_facet |
Anuradhani Kasturiratne Arunasalam Pathmeswaran A Rajitha Wickremasinghe Shaluka F Jayamanne Andrew Dawson Geoff K Isbister Hithanadura Janaka de Silva David G Lalloo |
author_sort |
Anuradhani Kasturiratne |
title |
The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka. |
title_short |
The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka. |
title_full |
The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka. |
title_fullStr |
The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The socio-economic burden of snakebite in Sri Lanka. |
title_sort |
socio-economic burden of snakebite in sri lanka. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005647 https://doaj.org/article/a76ad6e09dc7444499b95766317a30aa |
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Arctic |
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Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 7, p e0005647 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5500261?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005647 https://doaj.org/article/a76ad6e09dc7444499b95766317a30aa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005647 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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e0005647 |
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