‘Immediate medical assistance is required to tackle snake bites’

‘Immediate medical assistance is required to tackle snake bites’

PUNE: With Maharashtra recording the most number of snake bite cases in India in 2017 according to ministry of health and family welfare,

Dr Sadanand Raut, an expert in handling snake bite cases, has called for attention from the government on the issue for establishing better facilities to handle such cases.

According to ministry of health and family welfare, out of 1.14 lakh cases of snake bites in India reported between April 1 and October 31, 24,437 were in Maharashtra including 19,012 cases from rural areas and 5,425 cases from urban areas. As per the records, Pune has about 1,000 such cases during the same period.

Speaking on the issue, Dr Raut said that immediate medical assistance is the only solution to handle cases of snake bite and people should opt for traditional methods like tying a cloth or making a cut at the snake bit area. "A delay in handling the case of snake bite can lead to death or renal failure of a victim," added Raut, who was speaking on man snake conflict, at the event of International Day of forests on Wednesday which was organised by NGO Biospheres, Botany department of SPPU. Dr Raut said that snake bites continue to be a major medical concern in India.

"Since ages, people are having confrontations with snakes and scorpions. The incidence of snake bite is more in rural parts of the country, as the village environment, socioeconomic status, housing structure and the agricultural way of life, makes it suitable for the snakes to live in these areas. Similarly, as women and children sleep on the ground in rural areas, there are more female and child victims in cases of snake bites," he added. He said that he has started training sessions for doctors across Maharashtra so that they are made aware of ways to handle cases of snake bites. "We need to make people aware that getting the patient to the hospital and after correct diagnosis of the snake bite, adequate quantity of anti-snake venom should be provided to the patient," he added.

Common venomous snakes in Maharashtra: Cobra, Krait, Russells Viper and Saw Scaled Viper.
Symptoms after snake bite: Pain at the site of the bite, swelling, difficulty in opening eye, difficulty in breathing, bleeding from the site, pain in the abdomen and vomiting.
Complications if snake bite is delayed: Acute renal failure, respiratory paralysis, infection and gangrene.

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