Estimating snakebite incidence from mathematical models: A test in Costa Rica.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Snakebite envenoming is a neglected public health challenge that affects mostly economically deprived communities who inhabit tropical regions. In these regions, snakebite incidence data is not always reliable, and access to health care is scare and heterogeneous. Thus, addressing the problem of snakebite effectively requires an understanding of how spatial heterogeneity in snakebite is associated with human demographics and snakes' distribution. Here, we use a mathematical model to address the determinants of spatial heterogeneity in snakebite and we estimate snakebite incidence in a tropical country such as Costa Rica.

Methods and findings

We combined a mathematical model that follows the law of mass action, where the incidence is proportional to the exposed hum

SUBMITTER: Bravo-Vega CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6907855 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature