A hospital based epidemiological study of snakebite in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: district, West Bengal, India. In the present study, hospital based data on snakebite cases and deaths were collected from 10 blocks of the district to obtain a picture of this neglected public health issue. METHODS: district in a prescribed format addressing issues including the demographic factors regarding the victims, seasonal pattern, history of snakebite in previous 5 years, outcome of the bite, any reporting of death. RESULTS: A total number of 1633 snakebites were reported in the study during the period of 2012-2016. The hospital data from the ten blocks reported 17 deaths due to snakebite in the given period. It was found that about 34% of the snake bites occurred from June to September. The age-wise distribution of snakebite cases show that majority of snakebite affected cases were within the age of 21-45 years. Males(62%) suffered more than the females(38%). The case fatality rate reported from the hospital based data was 1.04%. 60% of the snakebites occurred during morning to noon hours. The clinical manifestation of snakebite included regional edema in the affected limb, hypotension, malaise, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. The bite to hospital time was found to be 120 ± 6.5 mins(n = 750 cases) and bite to ASV injection time was found to be 270 ± 3.5 mins(n = 750 cases). CONCLUSION: district which has been identified for high snakebite incidence.