Durgadas Anghore, Amit Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Sourabh Kosey, Shammy Jindal
India is estimated to have the highest snakebite mortality in the world. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates place the number of bites to be 83,000 per annum with 11,000 deaths. Most of the fatalities are due to the victim not reaching the hospital in time where definite treatment can be administered. In addition community is also not well informed about the occupational risks and simple measures which can prevent the bite. It continues to adopt harmful first aid practices such as tourniquets, cutting and suction, etc. Studies reveal that primary care doctors do not treat snakebite patients mainly due to lack of confidence. The secondary and tertiary care level, multiple protocols are being followed for polyvalent anti-snake venom (ASV) administration, predominantly based on western textbooks. In response, Government of India, Health and Family Welfare Department has prepared a National Snakebite Management Protocol to provide doctors and lay people with the best possible, evidence-based approach to deal with this problem in country. This article describes its salient features.
