Knowledge regarding snake bite in rural Bengal ? Are they still lingering on myths and misconceptions?

Introduction: Snake bite is a very common problem in rural India which even today leads to a large number of deaths. This is because the uninformed community members take recourse to harmful traditional healing measures which cause loss of vital time which is very important for the survival of the patient. Objectives: To assess the knowledge of the study population on snake bite and to elicit any association of this knowledge with their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Material and methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was done in a village in the Singur Block of Hooghly district of West Bengal. The head of the family or in his absence the senior most members was interviewed with a pre- designed, pre-tested schedule. Results: Farming was the occupation of the majority (36%) followed by business (20.6%) and service (17.7%). 45% belonged to the social class I and II (modified B.G. Prasad) while 39% were in the social class IV and V. Only 58.85% of the study population were aware that the incidence of snake bite can be reduced. 68% were aware of immobilisation of the affected part was the initial first aid measure and only 4% had the correct knowledge that application of collar was unnecessary and harmful. . Correct knowledge on the availability of specific treatment was present among 85.1% and 77.1% knew where specific treatment is available. Education OR 2.51 (1.26 ? 5.00), Occupation OR 4.44 (2.35-8.40), PCI OR 2.05 (1.12-3.76) were significantly associated with good knowledge. Conclusion: There is a paucity of knowledge on different domains of snakebite. Hence dissemination of correct knowledge is necessary to remove their misconceptions.