Venomous Bites, Stings and Poisoning by European Vertebrates as an Overlooked and Emerging Medical Problem: Recognition, Clinical Aspects and Therapeutic Management

Europe presents a high number of venomous and poisonous animals able to elicit medically relevant symptoms in humans. However, since most of the accidents involving venomous or poisonous animals in Europe are unreported, their incidence and morbidity are severely overlooked. Here we provide an overv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLife (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 13; no. 6; p. 1228
Main Authors Paolino, Giovanni, Di Nicola, Matteo Riccardo, Avella, Ignazio, Mercuri, Santo Raffaele
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2023
MDPI
Subjects
amphibian poison
Amphibians
Animals
Bites and stings
Clinical aspects
Disease management
Edema
Environmental aspects
Erythema
fish sting
Health aspects
Immunization
Laboratories
Morbidity
Mortality
Neurotoxicity
Pathogenesis
Poisoning
Poisons
reptile venom
Reptiles
Reptiles & amphibians
Review
Search engines
Snake bites
snake venom
snakebite
Stings
Toxins
Venom
venomous mammal
Vertebrates
Greece
Netherlands
Eastern Europe
United Kingdom
France
Portugal
Mediterranean Sea
Spain
Italy
Europe
Malta
amphibian poison
fish sting
venomous mammal
snakebite
snake venom
viper
reptile venom
stingray
weeverfish
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Summary:Europe presents a high number of venomous and poisonous animals able to elicit medically relevant symptoms in humans. However, since most of the accidents involving venomous or poisonous animals in Europe are unreported, their incidence and morbidity are severely overlooked. Here we provide an overview of the European vertebrate species of greatest toxicological interest, the clinical manifestations their toxins can cause, and their treatment. We report the clinical symptoms induced by envenomations and poisoning caused by reptiles, fishes, amphibians and mammals in Europe, ranging from mild, local symptoms (e.g., erythema, edema) to systemic and potentially deadly. The present work constitutes a tool for physicians to recognize envenomation/poisoning symptoms caused by the most medically relevant European vertebrates and to decide which approach is the most appropriate to treat them.
Bibliography:These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:2075-1729
2075-1729
DOI:10.3390/life13061228