One and a half million people per year are poisoned by snake venom in Sub-Saharan Africa. An IRD researcher recently analysed around 100 surveys and medical reports published over the past 40 years. No large-scale study of the situation had hitherto been conducted and public health authorities had underestimated the size of the problem. This means that currently only 10% of victims are treated, owing to a shortage of antivenoms* and lack of awareness among health care practitioners. Yet the clinical complications can be very serious, even fatal. A bite from a cobra or mamba can bring on death by asphyxia --- due to respiratory paralysis --- within 6 hours of the incident. Venom injected by the ocellated carpet viper, common in the African savannah, can cause hemorrhages leading to the victim's death in a few days. This new study provides authorities with more detailed and reliable figures which should enable them to readjust their health-care services in better tune with needs.
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