Page 12 - IAV Digital Magazine #599

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Man Bites Snake To Death After It Attacked Him
A man in India bit a snake back after it attacked him, result- ing in the snake's death.
The 35-year-old rail- way worker Santosh Lohar was working in a forested region near the city of Nawada in Bihar, India when the inci- dent occurred on Tuesday evening.
When Lohar went to sleep, the reptile sud- denly attacked him. He reacted by rapidly seizing the snake and biting it back twice,
killing
the creature.
In some parts of India, there is a superstition that biting a snake transfers the venom back to the reptile.
"In my village, there's a belief that if a snake bites you, you must bite it back twice to neutralize the venom," Lohar
told India Today. The species of snake that bit him has not been confirmed.
After the bite, Lohar was rushed to the
hos-
pital by his col- leagues. He was kept overnight and responded well to treatment, the Times of India reported, indi- cating he had been given antivenom. He was discharged from the hospital the next day.
India is home to a diverse range of snake species, including several that are highly venomous. Some of the country's most dangerous snakes include
the Indian cobra (also known as the specta-
cled cobra), the com- mon krait, the Russell's viper, and the saw-scaled viper.
These four species are sometimes called the "Big Four" due to their powerful venom and the proportion of snake bite injuries they cause. India is also home to the ven- omous King cobra and the banded krait.
According to a 2020 study, Russell's viper alone accounted for 43 percent of the snakebites in India between 2000 and 2019, with kraits mak- ing up 18 percent of bites and cobras 12 percent. Agricultural workers, rural resi- dents, and those liv- ing in close proximity to snake habitats are at higher risk of
being bitten by ven- omous snakes.
According to the same study, there were 1.2 million snakebite deaths (an average of 58,000 per year) from 2000 to 2019.
"Approximately 1.11–1.77 million
bites occur annually with about 70% rep- resenting envenoma- tion, and 58,000 dying," the paper said.
The venom of these snakes usually con- tains neurotoxins— which cause symp- toms like blurred vision, drooping eye- lids, and difficulty breathing—as well as hemotoxins, which lead to pain, swelling, bruising, and hemor- rhages.
"Bites by venomous snakes can cause acute medical emer- gencies involving shock, paralysis, hemorrhage, acute kidney injury and severe local tissue destruction that can prove fatal or lead to permanent disability if left untreated.
"Most deaths and serious conse- quences from snakebite envenoma- tion (exposure to venom toxins from the bite) are avoid- able by timely access to safe and effective antivenoms," the paper said.
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