Cross-sectional ethnobotanical survey of plants used by traditional health practitioners for snakebite case management in two regions of Burkina Faso
Cross-sectional ethnobotanical survey of plants used by traditional health practitioners for snakebite case management in two regions of Burkina Faso
Blog Article
Background: Ophidian envenomation is a public health problem mainly in sub-Saharan African countries.The high cost of antivenom and/or its frequent unavailability in primary health care centres forces most snakebite victims to consult traditional healers for medicinal plants as a first-line treatment.Purpose: This study aimed to identify ENHANCED COLLAGEN RELAX medicinal plants used by traditional healers in the Hauts-Bassins and Southwest regions of Burkina Faso to manage snakebite cases and repel snakes.Study design: A cross-sectional ethnobotanical survey was carried out from May to December 2022.
We included 117 participants from the Hauts-Bassins and Southwest regions.The participants were traditional health practitioners.We used a questionnaire administered during interviews, and the responses of health practitioners were entered on an Excel sheet.Knowledge was assessed quantitatively using relative citation frequency.
Results: Of the total enrolled traditional health practitioners, 65 were recruited in the Hauts-Bassins region, and 52 were recruited in the Southwest region.The majority of participants were male (84.61%, 99/117).More than 80% (94/117) of the participants were illiterate, and 90% (105/117) stated that they had received their knowledge from their ancestors.
A total of 31 plant families, subdivided into 58 species, were mentioned by the two groups of traditional healers.Polygalaceae (28.2%) was the most frequently mentioned family, followed by Annonaceae (14.52%) and Fabaceae (13.
67%).Roots were the plant part most used by traditional healers for remedy preparation, with a percentage of 68.96% (40/58).The route of administration was mostly oral, with warm water, slurry and/or tamarind juice.
For the repellent, the most common method of use was by spraying.Conclusions: Our results showed that plants belonging to the Polygalaceae family were most commonly used in the Southwest and Hauts-Bassins regions in snakebite case management by traditional practitioners.Comprehensive pharmacological and toxicological studies need to be carried out on the reported medicinal plants to Eye Shadow contribute to the well-being of local communities in tropical and subtropical areas.