Amazon Snakebites

Poisonous snakebites in Brazil are a serious health threat especially in the country's hard-to-reach regions like the Amazon. To better understand the needs of snakebitten youngsters, improve care and gain unique insights, researchers asked 20 children aged 4–12 to depict their journey from bite to making it to hospital in Manaus, Brazilian Amazon, revealing where and when it happened, how and with whom they travelled and how the child perceived the experience. This drawing by a 10-year-old boy (clockwise) shows him being taken after the bite in the dark, travelling with his father by motorbike and river boat next day to the urban hospital where he is transported by wheelchair

Read the published research article here

Written by Lindsey Goff

Lindsey Goff

Editor-in-Chief

Formerly immunologist for Cancer Research UK, Lindsey has since moved into the field of scientific publishing. She looks after all BPoD editorial matters.

• Images from work by Joseir Saturnino Cristino and colleagues
• School of Health Sciences, Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
• Images originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, December 2025