Shortcomings in snake bite management in rural Cameroon: a case report

Abstract

BackgroundSnake bites are an important public health problem in developing countries with most bites occurring in rural areas. Severe envenomation often occurs in children and following bites to the face. Prompt administration of potent anti-venom remains the mainstay of management. However in Cameroon, the use of anti-venoms is limited by non-availability, high cost (where available) and poor mastery of treatment guidelines.Case presentationWe present a 10-year-old muslim Cameroonian child from an enclaved rural area, brought to the hospital 12 h after a snake bite to the face, with signs of severe envenomation. Despite the suboptimal anti-venom dose administered to this patient due to a stock out of this medication, supportive therapy was beneficial in ensuring a positive outcome and satisfactory recovery.ConclusionThis highlights snake bites as a public health problem due to the lack of snake anti-venoms in peripheral health facilities, rendering them unable to appropriately manage these cases. National health policies should encourage constant peripheral availability of anti-venoms and the institution of an intervention package for snake bite management, comprising: treatment protocol, staff training, monitoring of compliance and community education to help reduce the mortality and morbidity from snake bites.

Epidemiology, ecology and human perceptions of snakebites in a savanna community of northern Ghana

“…Some girls and the elderly were however bitten at home or in school facilities, indicating that everyone is at risk of snakebites [7, 24, 31, 43, 51, 52]. Contrary to our findings, some studies in Africa actually report relatively higher snakebite prevalence in children, including girls, probably as a result of higher child-labour engagement or poorer parental care and supervision in such areas [23, 31, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56].…”

Community-based audits of snake envenomations in a resource-challenged setting of Cameroon: case series

“…Snakebites are a significant cause of mortality in Cameroon [ 9 , 10 ]. An estimated 266 snakebite related deaths are reported annually from high-risk zones like northern Cameroon [ 11 ].…”

“…Children with their high rates of outdoor activities could easily encounter snakes and suffer snakebite incidents [ 9 , 14 ]. Owing to their small body surface areas, they are at an increased risk of severe envenomation due to a greater amount of venom injected per unit body mass [ 14 , 17 ].…”

“…Owing to their small body surface areas, they are at an increased risk of severe envenomation due to a greater amount of venom injected per unit body mass [ 14 , 17 ]. In an earlier study in Cameroon, the snakebite-related mortality of children < 5 years of age was 7.1% [ 9 , 18 ]. The years of life lost (YLL) following the death of a child significantly increases the burden of snakebites making snake envenoming a health priority in this population [ 17 ].…”

“…In the absence of affordable snake AVS in some rural areas in Cameroon [ 1 , 12 , 23 ], it is important to seek alternative means to decrease morbidity and mortality from snakebites [ 9 , 10 , 20 ]. One of such ways is to invest in community education and prevention of snakebites [ 13 , 14 , 20 ].…”