Snake bite: Prevention is best but antivenom treatment must also be improved
Friday, January 1, 2010 - 03:35
in Health & Medicine
Around 5.5 million people are bitten by snakes each year, resulting in some 400,000 amputations and between 20,000 and 125,000 deaths. Despite this, the burden of human suffering caused by snake bite remains largely invisible to the global health community. A Seminar and linked Viewpoint in this week's Lancet discuss how educating communities on how to avoid snake bite, or providing them with protective footwear, might reduce the risk. Yet when a bite occurs, the correct antivenom and the right training about how to use it can be lifesaving. Antivenom technologies and their use need to be improved, since organised training programmes in the rural tropics are virtually non-existent.