Global mortality of snakebite envenoming between 1990 and 2019

Abstract

Snakebite envenoming is an important cause of preventable death. The World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal to halve snakebite mortality by 2030. We used verbal autopsy and vital registration data to model the proportion of venomous animal deaths due to snakes by location, age, year, and sex, and applied these proportions to venomous animal contact mortality estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. In 2019, 63,400 people (95% uncertainty interval 38,900–78,600) died globally from snakebites, which was equal to an age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) of 0.8 deaths (0.5–1.0) per 100,000 and represents a 36% (2–49) decrease in ASMR since 1990. India had the greatest number of deaths in 2019, equal to an ASMR of 4.0 per 100,000 (2.3—5.0). We forecast mortality will continue to decline, but not sufficiently to meet WHO’s goals. Improved data collection should be prioritized to help target interventions, improve burden estimation, and monitor progress.

Differentiation of snake venom using Raman spectroscopic analysis

“…In 2019, 63,400 people died globally from snakebites. 37 An estimated 5.4 million people are bitten each year with up to 2.7 million envenoming (). South Asia had the greatest burden.…”

Multifaceted community health education programs as powerful tools to mitigate snakebite-induced deaths, disabilities, and socioeconomic burden

“…Generally, India is considered ‘the capital of SBE’ due to the high number of incidents and deaths. India accounts for around 58,000 SBE-induced deaths every year ( Suraweera et al, 2020 ; Roberts et al, 2022 ; Livemint, 2022 ) although the actual number may undoubtedly be much higher as many victims do not seek hospital treatment or die on the way to hospitals ( Vaiyapuri et al, 2013 ). Such deaths are likely to be unaccounted for as there are no available records in hospitals, local police stations or traditional treatment centres ( Kadam et al, 2021 ).…”

The tale of snakebite’s fleeting spotlight—and why it encapsulates all that’s wrong with global health

“…A billion points of data pass through the GBD pipeline, operated by some 7000 researchers 25. A paper on snakebite emerged in October 2022,26 funded—as is usual with the GBD—by the Gates Foundation. Although Murray and Lopez initially envisioned very broad stakeholder representation, IHME was founded by Gates in 2007, launched by a $105m grant with Murray as founding director.…”