True or false coral snake: is it worth the risk? A case report.

Background: Bites provoked by the genus represent less than 1% of snakebite cases notified in Brazil, a tiny fraction compared with other genus such as and , which together represent almost 80% of accidents. In addition to their less aggressive behavior, habits and morphology of coral snakes are determinant factors for such low incidence of accidents. Although bites are rare, victims must be rescued and hospitalized in a short period of time, because this type of envenoming may evolve to a progressive muscle weakness and acute respiratory failure.