SNAKEBITE ENVENOMING

About:

• Snakebite envenoming is a potentially life-threatening disease.
  
  
• Cause: It is generally caused by the bite of a venomous snake. However, it can also be caused by having venom sprayed into the eyes by snakes.
  
  
• Statistics: by World Health Organization (WHO)
  • About 5 million snakebites occur each year, resulting in up to 2.7 million envenoming’s.
    
    
  • This causes 81,000- 38,000 deaths annually, apart from causing amputations and other permanent disabilities,
    
    
  • It is a major concern in rural areas of tropical and sub-tropical countries situated in Africa, the Middle-East, Asia, Oceania and Latin America.
    
    
  
  
  
• Treatment: Anti-snake venom (ASV) are effective treatments to prevent or reverse most of its harmful effects.
  
  
• Steps by WHO:
  • In June 2017, WHO added snakebite envenoming to its priority list of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
    
    
  • Anti-snake venom (ASV) is included in the WHO Essential Medicines List.
    
    
  
  
  
• Indian scenario:
  • In 2017-18, 1.96 lakh cases of snakebites were recorded, most of them being in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Of these, around 50,000 died.
    
    
  • Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd (a Maharashtra govt. PSU) is the only government-owned Anti-snake venom (ASV) manufacturer in India.
    
    
  • In June 2018, Maharashtra also approved the setting up of a National Venom Research Centre.
    

    Anti-snake venom (ASV) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites.

     Monovalent ASV: It is made from the venom of one species and can treat the bite of only that species.

     Polyvalent ASV: It combines the venoms of India’s 4 most common poisonous snakes — cobra, common krait, Russell’s viper, and saw-scaled viper. India currently manufactures only polyvalent ASV.