Save Lives of Snakebite Victims in Rural India

On 6^th July 2019, Neera, a 45-year-old woman from Sirpur village about 20 km away, came to Anjali Health Centre (AHC). She had been bitten by a cobra on her left foot at 7 am that very morning in the courtyard just outside her house. Neera reached AHC at 10.30 am. When she arrived she was conscious and responding, but had difficulty breathing and her eyelids were drooping. Even though the bite marks were hardly visible, there was significant pain and swelling in the bitten foot. Her blood pressure on arrival was a little high at 160/80 but other systems were within normal limits. The necessary blood tests were done to assess envenomation and status of organ systems - 20min Whole Blood Clotting Test, complete blood count, and kidney function tests. 10 vials of ASV were transfused and Neera was also treated with atropine and neostigmine. She showed remarkable improvement by 1.30 pm the same day and was discharged at 8 am the next morning in normal condition. Neera returned for followup two days later and had completely recovered with good wound healing.

With Neera’s treatment the number of anti venom vials at AHC dropped to below 100. With the monsoon season on, this stock is too low for comfort because there have been instances when up to 4 severe cases of snakebite have arrived at AHC on the same day! So 100 vials were ordered and these reached Raipur, the nearest town, and then from there to AHC by 2^nd August, 2019.

On 8^th August 2019, six days after the vials reached AHC, 62-year-old Sohadra was brought to the hospital. She had been bitten on her right hand at 2.30 pm that day while working in a paddy field in her village. Sohadra’s village, Kalmidadar, is about 22 km from AHC and she reached the hospital at 3.45 pm. Usually, the caregivers would have had some idea about the snake that had bitten the patient, but in this case nobody had seen the snake, not even Sohadra. Going by the presenting signs and symptoms and clinical tests, the doctor at AHC diagnosed viper bite. There were no signs of neurological involvement ie, no drooping eyelids and no difficulty breathing or swallowing. The patient was treated with 13 vials of ASV (10 vials on arrival and 3 vials 2 hrs later). As of 10 pm, the patient had improved considerably although the 20WBCT was still positive. Renal function test results were received the next day and were normal. Sohadra Bai arrived at the hospital with severe pain in the bitten hand and swelling up to the wrist. At the time of writing this, the pain in her right hand has reduced but swelling is still present. Sohadra was discharged in the evening the next day.

We would like to thank you for the good wishes and encouragement you have given us all these months. This project is taking part in the week-long Globalgiving Daan Utsav (#GivingTuesday) campaign starting 2^nd October. Your support during that time would go the extra mile with Globalgiving’s matching grants and bonus prizes pushing it along. So, please do reach out to your friends and family to help support treatment for snakebite victims in India.