ABSTRACT

The incidence of snakebite in India is very high when compared with the snakebite incidences worldwide. Although the exact figures are not available, approximately 10,000 people die of snakebite and several thousands of people are affected by envenomation. Most of these deaths are not reported, as they mainly occur in the rural areas. It has been reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) that more than 1000 deaths occur becuase of snakebite in the state of Maharashtra alone every year. In the same publication, the total deaths reported in 1981 were more than 2500 from Southeast Asia. The mortality is very high in Burma, India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. In India, the antivenins that were available until 1982 were mainly of the polyvalent type comprising antivenins prepared against cobra, krait, F. E. Russell's viper, and saw-scaled viper.