The people of our country have been familiar with snakes and snake bites since ancient times. It's hard to find people who have never seen a snake. Every year about 600,000 snake bites occur in our country and about 6,000 people die. Usually in rural areas, women and children at home and farmers on farms are bitten by snakes. This results in toxic injuries, which can lead to various complications, including death. But sadly, most people are still unaware of this. Only 3% of the total infected people received treatment at the hospital. The remaining 96% of people go to Ojha without going to the hospital for treatment. The result is death due to lack of proper treatment. So the purpose of today's writing is to make people aware of this.
We all have a rough idea about snakes. Still, let's talk about snakes. The snake belongs to the genus Reptilia of the Cordata episode. Surprisingly, snakes are very behaviorally innocent, they do not attack easily. Only when something feels a threat to themselves, do they bite for self-defense. They have an organ in their palate called 'Jacobson's sense organ', through which they detect the presence of various objects / organisms in the environment. Pit vipers have heat-sensing holes between the eyes and the jaw. The snake has no external ears but a middle ear. So there is debate about whether the snake can hear.
The tooth of a snake is called Fang in English. Non-venomous snakes have many teeth, which are small in size. But venomous snakes mainly have two long, curved and tubular teeth. The two teeth are attached to the upper jaw and are covered by a mucous membrane. During a snake bite, these teeth straighten slightly towards the front and enter the body of the victim. These long teeth may or may not have small teeth.
About 94 species of snakes are found in our country. Of these, about 27 species are poisonous, of which 12 species are marine. All snakes are mainly divided into two classes-
1. Non-venomous snakes
2. Poisonous snakes
Some of the non-venomous snakes found in Bangladesh are Python, Boa, Keelback, Blind snake, Wart snake, Cat snake. , Laudga snake (Vine snake), Dharaj snake (Rat snake), Painya snake (Water snake) etc.
The venomous snakes of Bangladesh are divided into several families:
Elapidae family: Cobra, Krait
Viperidi family: Russell's Viper, Green Pit Viper
Hydropid family: Sea snakes
Let's give some idea about snake venom. Snake venom is mainly snake saliva and venom glands are specialized salivary glands. These glands are located behind the eyes, at the bottom. Toxins are transmitted from the glands to the teeth through the ducts. When a snake bites, the venom enters the infected body through the long tooth duct. Snake venom is a protein substance whose main ingredient is Zootoxin. Notable components of the species:
1. Toxalbumin:
Hemotoxin
Neurotoxicity
Proteolysin
Cardiotoxins
Fribinolysin
Myotoxin
2. Enzyme:
Phospholipase A
Protease
Hyaluronidase
Cholinesterage
Coagulase
Hydrolase
Trans Eminem
ATPA
3. Peptides and polypeptides
Effect of snake venom on human body
Snake venom spreads from the infected area to other parts of the body through blood and lymph and starts its action. It has no effect on normal skin. There are three types of snake venom commonly found in our country.
Neurotoxic
Hemotoxic
Cytotoxic
Toxins that are neurotoxic, work on nerves, nerve joints, the respiratory center of the brain, and so on. Neurotoxic toxins numb the muscles. As a result, people die of respiratory failure.
Hematotoxic toxins break down blood cells, causing blood to clot. It also acts on the heart muscle, blood vessels, etc. and causes death through cardiac arrest, excessive bleeding, shock, etc.
Cytotoxic toxins attack various cells in the body and cause cell death.
Symptoms of snake bites
Snake bites can be diagnosed by looking at some common symptoms. Such as:
Common: headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, swelling of the affected area
Nervous: Muscle numbness, nasal congestion, heavy eyelids, numbness of neck muscles, difficulty swallowing or moving the tongue or moving jaw, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, weakness, convulsions, fainting, etc.
Blood related: Continuous bleeding from the affected area, bleeding gums, vomiting, coughing or bleeding with urine etc.
Determine the type of snake by looking at the bite marks
If a snake bites you or someone in your family, how do you know if it is a poisonous snake or a non-venomous snake bite? There is no need to be an expert for this, you can understand if you notice a little. The venomous snake bite site has many tooth marks, which are shallow. These shallow are arranged in rows. But the bite of a poisonous snake has two deep scars. In this case It may or may not have small tooth marks. In addition, in the case of venomous snakes, the affected area may contain red, blue, black, etc.
Venomous (left) and non-venomous snake bite marks; Image Source: Memecenter.com
What to do if a snake bites?
Most people do not understand what to do in this accident. Panicked, or busy killing the snake. But just a few simple steps you can take in a cold day can save someone's precious life.
1. Reassurance: The affected person needs to be reassured and given courage again and again, not to be allowed to panic. Because, even the bite of a non-venomous snake can cause extreme panic and death due to mental trauma. (Most snakes in Bangladesh are non-venomous. A handful of snakes are venomous. Again, venomous snakes may fail to inject sufficient amount of venom. The patient can be reassured by this information).
2. The affected limb must be kept still. If you have hands, you can't move your hands, if you have legs, you can't walk, you have to sit still.
3. The affected limb should be bandaged with a little pressure. This is called pressure immobilization. If bandages are not available, towels, scarves or something like that can be used.
4. The affected area should be washed gently with soap or gently wiped with a damp cloth.
5. If you have already killed the snake, bring it to the hospital. However, care must be taken in this regard. It cannot be caught by hand in any way. Because some snakes pretend to die. But don't waste time killing snakes.
. The infected person should be taken to the hospital as soon as possible.
Things that can't be done in any way
Out of ignorance, we do things that are harmful to the patient. So it is important to have the right idea.
1. No tight binding / knot can be given. It is commonly seen that when a hand or foot is bitten, it is tied tightly with a rope or something like that upwards from the bitten place so that the poison does not spread. But it has no scientific basis. In addition, it interferes with blood flow to the tied arms / legs. As a result, lack of blood flow can lead to tissue necrosis.
2. Ojha cannot be taken for treatment
3. No cuts can be made with the blade, knife etc. in the bitten place
4. Many people think that if you put your mouth on the affected area and suck out the poison, the patient will get better. Such misconceptions have arisen mainly for the benefit of Bengali movies. It has no scientific basis. Because the venom spreads through the blood and lymph, which cannot be sucked out in any way. Therefore, under no circumstances can the face of the affected area.
4. No herbs, saliva, stones, plant seeds, dung, mud etc. can be applied.
5. No chemicals can be applied or sprayed with it
6. If the infected person has difficulty swallowing or speaking, vomiting, excessive salivation, nasal congestion, etc., then nothing can be fed.
7. You can't try to vomit by eating anything
8. Aspirin should not be given to relieve pain
9. Unnecessary delay in taking to the hospital.
Something about antivenom
Usually venomous snake bites are treated with antivenom. Antivenom destroys snake venom in the body. Antivenom is produced in the horse's body by the entry of snake venom into the horse's body, which is subsequently collected and processed and marketed. However, antivenom is not effective against all venomous snake venom. Such as- green peat viper, sea snake. Again, antivenom may not work in all of our bodies. Most importantly, antivenom has side effects. This can lead to various complications.
Antivenom; Image Source: Contractpharma.com
Therefore, only a registered doctor will decide on antivenom based on the type of snake, type of bite and symptoms and apply it on the patient's body subject to the permission of the patient / patient's guardian.
