Snakes keep people in rural pockets on their toes as bites kill 12 in past 2 weeks

Visakhapatnam: While the southwest monsoon is a lifeline for Andhra Pradesh’s agriculture economy, the season also keeps people on their toes by letting loose slithering killer snakes. Over the years, the state has witnessed a rise in snakebite cases during monsoon. Nearly 50 per cent of the total snakebite cases in state are reported during monsoon season. Though snakes are an important part of the environment as they kill rats and prevent them from destroying crops, sometimes snakes turn silent killers. At least twelve persons, including three women, died of snakebites in parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh (CAP) in the past two weeks. Since most snakebite victims are from rural pockets of the state, shifting them to healthcare centres equipped with antivenom and critical care facilities, like ventilators, can take very long. In many areas, emergency transport facilities like ambulances are scarce.The NCRB’s data on accidental deaths and suicides in India say over 1,700 deaths due to snakebites were reported in Andhra Pradesh between 2018 and 2022. Most of the victims were farmers and some of the survivors are still dependent on alternative treatment methods. Russell’s vipers and cobras were responsible for most deaths and the remaining deaths were caused by a few other species of snakes. There is correlation between agrarian communities and high frequency of encounters with snakes in Andhra Pradesh. A majority of the snakebites and deaths are reported between June and September and most of the deaths are reported from Vizianagaram, East Godavari and Krishna districts and a few parts of Rayalaseema region where cultivation is taken up during the monsoon. "Tring to find a safe place during the rainy season when their holes get filled with water, snakes often enter farm fields and homes. Mostly, farmers are the victims of snakebites in the state", said Vizag city-based Snake Saver Society’s president Rokkam Kiran Kumar. The monsoon is typically the time when animal welfare societies receive the maximum phone calls from residents of Vizag city who have spotted a snake in their home or near their residences. In the past two days, I have rescued more than 12 cobras and three pythons in Vizag city, he added. Victims’ ignorance in dealing with snakebites and clinical mismanagement of envenomation are basic causes for morbidity and mortality, said health experts. A majority of the snakebite victims, who availed treatment in KG Hospital in Vizag city, survived, they added.