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Snakes and snakebite envenoming in Northern Tanzania: a neglected tropical health problem

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases, August 2015
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  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (70th percentile)
  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (64th percentile)

Mentioned by

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1 policy source
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1 X user
facebook
2 Facebook pages

Citations

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18 Dimensions

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120 Mendeley
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Title
Snakes and snakebite envenoming in Northern Tanzania: a neglected tropical health problem
Published in
Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases, August 2015
DOI 10.1186/s40409-015-0033-8
Pubmed ID
Authors

M. J. Kipanyula, W. H. Kimaro

Abstract

Snakebites cause considerable human and livestock injuries as well as deaths worldwide, and particularly have a high impact in sub-Saharan Africa. Generating a basic platform of information on the characteristics of snakes and snakebites in various countries is relevant for designing and implementing public health interventions. This study was performed to identify types of snakes and some of the characteristics of snakebite cases in two communities, an agricultural and a pastoralist, in Arusha region, northern Tanzania. A total of 30 field visits were carried out in areas considered by local inhabitants to be potential microhabitats for snakes. Direct observation of snake types based on morphological features and a structured questionnaire were employed for data collection. A total of 25 live and 14 dead snakes were encountered. Among the dead ones, the following species were identified: two black-necked spitting cobras (Naja nigricollis); five puff adders (Bitis arietans), one common egg-eater (Dasypeltis scabra); two rufous-beaked snakes (Ramphiophis rostratus); two brown house snakes (Lamprophis fuliginosus); one Kenyan sand boa (Eryx colubrinus), and one black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis). The frequency of snake encounters was significantly higher (χ (2) = 4.6; p = 0.03) in the pastoral than in the agricultural area; there were more snakebite cases in the former, but the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.7). A total of 242 snakebite victims attended at the Meserani Clinic, located in the study area, between the years 2007 to 2012. Of all cases, 146 (61.6 %) and 96 (38.4 %) were male and female patients, respectively. As for age distribution, 59.1 % of snakebite victims were from the economically active age groups between 15 and 55 years. Snakebites are a threat to rural communities and public health in general. The burden of snakebites in Tanzania presents an epidemiologically similar picture to other tropical countries. Livestock keeping and agriculture are the major economic activities associated with snakebites. Community-based public education is required to create awareness on venomous snakes and predisposing factors to snakebites. These tasks demand integration of diverse stakeholders to achieve a common goal of reducing the impact of human suffering from these envenomings in Tanzania.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 120 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Nigeria 1 <1%
Unknown 119 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 26 22%
Student > Bachelor 21 18%
Researcher 9 8%
Other 7 6%
Student > Ph. D. Student 7 6%
Other 16 13%
Unknown 34 28%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 27 23%
Nursing and Health Professions 12 10%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 10 8%
Environmental Science 6 5%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 4 3%
Other 25 21%
Unknown 36 30%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 July 2023.
All research outputs
#7,355,485
of 25,371,288 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
#143
of 539 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#80,500
of 279,017 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
#5
of 17 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,371,288 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 69th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 539 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.6. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 71% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 279,017 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 17 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 64% of its contemporaries.