title: Short report: Venomous snake bites in Japan.
abstract: Few reliable data are available on the incidence of snake bites in developing and developed nations. Insufficient epidemiologic data have hindered the recognition of snake bite as an important public health issue. We verified statistics of snake bites (mamushi and habu bites) in Japan by using a currently available, nationally representative, hospital-based database. We identified 1,670 inpatients with snake bites from 404 hospitals during July 1-December 31 in 2007 and 2008. More than 60% were males, the average age was 60.1 years, and the in-hospital mortality rate was 0.2%. The incidence of mamushi bite, distributed between latitudes 30°N and 46°N, was estimated to be 1.67 bites/100,000/6 months. It is important to continue collecting all available data to monitor the trends of this life-threatening disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. yasunagah-jyo@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yasunaga
authors.forename: Hiromasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horiguchi
authors.forename: Kazuaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuwabara
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsuda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012909:Snake Bites / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D017819:Viperidae