Clinico- epidemiology of snake bites in India

Abstract

Snakebite incidences are more in tropical and sub-tropical regions in India. The mortality rate due to snakebites is higher in India. Annually about 45,900  victims died due to snakebite. There are four medically important species found in India. These are cobra, krait, russell’s viper and saw- scaled viper. Cobra and krait bite affect the nervous system while viper bites affect the blood system. Snake venom is made up of many components such as serine proteases, metalloproteases, phospholipase A2, haemorrhagins, procoagulants, neurotoxins, hydrolases, etc. and each component shows its toxic action on the human beings. Clinical features of neurotoxic bites and vasculotoxic bites can help to identify the type of snake which plays the most important role in the management of victims.