Pattern of snakebite cases evaluated at a tertiary care hospital

Introduction: Snakebite is a serious public health issue worldwide especially in Indian subcontinent. The high mortality in India is due to climatic factors, rural predominance of population and their agricultural dependence. It is a neglected disease that usually affects the rural inhabitants indulging in agricultural activities. All snakes are tabooed for being deadly poisonous but truth is miles away as majority of them belongs to non-poisonous category. Objective: To study the pattern of Snakebite cases evaluated at KLE Hospital of J.N. Medical College, Belagavi, Karnataka. Study Design: A retrospective hospital record based study. Materials and Methods: The study was done by analyzing the case records at Medical Record Department of J.N. Medical College, Belagavi, Karnataka for all patients admitted with Snakebite envenomation from January 2013 to December 2017. Relevant information was entered in a pre-structured proforma which include age, sex, site of bite, place of residence, occupation, season and time of bite and mortality. All the patients who came to hospital with the history of Snakebite were included in the study. Results: There was total 143 Snake bite cases among which 89 (62.2%) were males and 54 (37.8%) were females. The highest incidence of Snake bite was observed in age group of 20-29 years (29.4%). The majority of the victims belonged to rural areas 107 (74.8%) as compared to urban areas 36 (25.2%). The most vulnerable occupation group was the people involved in the agricultural activities 85 (59.4%). The maximum number of snake bite cases was reported during the rainy season (40.6%). 117 (81.8%) patients were bitten by venomous snakes as compared to 26 patients (18.2%) which were bitten by non-venomous snakes. Conclusion: Snakebite is a matter of great concern as it is one of the neglected health problems. It is a need of hour to educate the community about the prevention of snakebite, early hospitalization and first aid measures by which there will be drastic fall in snakebite cases.