According to the WHO death rate for snake bite victims could fall to 8.3 percent with the new treatment method against 26 percent for the old method that is still used in hospitals across the country.[break]
The record section of the hospital said death rate among snake bite victims had indeed declined after the new technique of treatment was used. “The new method of treating patients seems very effective,” officer at hospital´s record section, Laxmi Raj Regmi said.
Seven among 93 snake bite patients admitted in the hospital died in the last fiscal year. The number is markedly lower than the 24 deaths among 67 patients in 2010/11 when the old method was still in use at the hospital.
According to Dr Prasanta Gupta who works at the hospital´s emergency, 10 vials of anti venom are given to the patient within half an hour of their arrival at the hospital. Then additional 10 vials are given in one hour. If the condition improved, additional two vials of anti venom are given, if not five more vials are given. Then two additional vials of anti venom are give to the patient every eight hours.
In the old technique two vials are administered through the veins after patient reaches the hospital. Additional four vials are given through saline drip.
The hospital started the new treatment method by downloading WHO guideline.
“The government should not delay to apply the new method of treatment. More lives could be saved if this method is used in the hospital across the country,” Dr Gupta added.
The Dr Gitendrman Shrestha working at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) said that the office had asked the hospital to provide the protocol of new treatment method. “The method can be applied in other health centers after study,” he said.
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