Acidentes causados por peixes em pescadores artesanais na Ilha do Maranhão

Abstract

Artisanal fishermen are susceptible to the numerous types of injuries and traumas caused by fish due to direct contact with these animals during their lab activities. The most obvious problem of this trade lies in its consequences, since they can cause irreversible damage to human health resulting in burdens on workers and public services for health and work. The present study aimed to describe the accidents caused by fish in artisanal fishermen on Ma- ranhão Island. The work consisted in the application of semi-structured forms in 100 hand-made fishermen, to obtain clinical and epidemiological data on fish accidents caused by fish. Data were analyzed through descriptive analysis. The Chisquare statistical test (χ²), with significance level (p <0.05). A total of 190 accidents were recorded, including cases where fishermen had been injured more than once. Among the results obtained, it was possible to emphasize that 48% were aged between 31 and 50 years. The fish that caused the most accidents were: catfish 53.2%, streaks 19.4% and niquim 17.4%. The clinical manifestations showed that in all accidents there was pain and erythema. In relation to the regions of the body, the hands (57.9%) were the most affected. Regarding the treatment used, no therapeutic treatment was used in 26.8% of the accidents. The consequence of the negligence to the care of the traumas caused by fishes showed that in 30% of the accidents there was a departure from the fishermen of their work activities. In addition, accidents resulted in some type of scar (25.3%) or weakness (7.9%). It is concluded that the accidents caused by fish in artisanal fishermen are common and neglected, due to the lack of preventive measures for their occurrence, lack of therapeutic treatments and resistance to the search for medical assistance. These accidents are preventable, therefore, the adoption of preventive measures is essential.