Snakebites: Like having my hand smashed by a hammer
Tulip Mazumdar
David Williams has been bitten by a snake six
times. “The first time was pretty terrifying because I
didn’t know what to expect. It felt like having my hand
smashed with a hammer,” he says. “My last snakebite
[5] would have been a fatal one, but for the fact we were
carrying an emergency medical kit so we could do
something about it.”
Dr Williams, an expert on snakebites at the
World Health Organization (WHO) — who travels the
[10] world collecting snake venoms to help develop new
treatments - says most victims “don’t have that lifesaving luxury”.
The WHO calls snakebites “arguably the world’s
biggest hidden health crisis”, with one person
[15] dying from a bite every four minutes. Hundreds of
thousands of others are left seriously disfigured, with
many needing amputations. Snakebites mainly affect
people living in some of the poorest communities in
the poorest parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
[20] Farmers risk their lives and livelihoods every day
while simply tending to their crops, where deadly
snakes lurk. Children often become victims too.
So now two major health organisations — the
WHO and the UK’s Wellcome Trust — are taking
[25] steps to tackle snakebites. The Wellcome Trust is
investing £80m into a new programme to invest in
new treatments and better access to effective anti-
venoms. And the WHO is preparing to publish a plan
to halve the number of deaths and disabilities caused
[30] by snakebites by 2030.
“We’re at a very important point in the effort to do
something about snakebite for some of the poorest
people in the world,” says Dr Williams. “Many already
live in poverty and the consequence of snakebite is
[35] that they are driven further into debt and despair, even
if they survive.”
Snakebite, though potentially lethal, is treatable.
Wellcome’s director of science, Prof Mike Turner,
says: “With access to the right anti-venom there is
[40] a high chance of survival. “While people will always
be bitten by venomous snakes, there is no reason so
many should die.”
Dr Philip Price, science lead for snakebites at the
Wellcome Trust, says there is a “spiral of decline” when
[45] it comes to dealing with snakebites. “The treatments
are expensive, the people who need them often can’t
afford them, and in some cases people can’t make it
to the hospital in time.”
Dr Price said that even when people do reach
[50] hospital, sometimes the doctors are not trained
adequately, and often treatments are not available. He
said patients may instead turn to traditional healers,
meaning they “fly under the radar” so “most countries
aren’t even aware they have a snakebite problem”.
[55] Anti-venom treatment is made in the same way
that it has been for more than 100 years. The costly
and laborious process sees antibodies harvested
from horse blood to make anti-venom. But even so, it
is estimated that the world produces only a third of the
[60] anti-venom that it needs.
The horses are given very low doses of snake
venom over long periods of time, so it does not harm
the animal, says Dr Price. “Eventually the blood is
taken from the horse, and the antibodies are purified
[65] out. The antibodies inside that blood then bind and
neutralise the venom. “It’s not without risk to inject this
directly into the patient.”
These risks mean victims have to be treated
in hospitals, which can take hours or even days for
[70] people to travel to. That is often too late to save lives
and limbs.
Another major challenge is that many of the anti-
venoms available are not actually effective. Different
types of snakebites need different types of anti-venom.
[75] In Africa, for example, up to 90% of available anti-
venom is thought to be ineffective. There is currently
no authoritative international list that ∃ of all the
anti-venoms available and what they actually treat.
Despite the challenges, achieving the WHO goal
[80] of halving deaths and disabilities from snakebites over
the next decade is “not all that difficult”, according to
Dr Williams. He has spent decades working on
improving snakebite treatments and education,
particularly in Papua New Guinea.
[85] “In 2003 in Papua New Guinea, one in every four
children who were bitten by snakes died. Today it’s
less than one in every 50.” Dr Williams says whilst
this is still too many deaths, the solution is “not rocket
science”.
[90] “It’s about having safe, effective anti-venoms,
trained health workers, communities that are engaged
in the problem and are taught how better to prevent
snakebite, and what to do when someone is bitten.”
He said a desperately needed spotlight is finally being
[95] placed on this avoidable killer.
Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48281557 Retrieved on: May 18, 2019.
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