VIJAYAWADA: Snakebite cases in the Krishna district are still being reported at an alarming rate, with as many as eight persons in the Diviseema region being bitten by snakes on Thursday and 17 more people on Friday. District officials said that special medical teams are being deployed to the remote villages of the district to treat people. In the previous year, in all 3,036 snakebite cases were registered in Krishna district alone and during this monsoon, hundreds of snakebite cases were registered.
This year, since January till date, 1,974 snakebite cases have been registered. With the recent floods and heavy rains, rate of snakebite cases have dangerously increased. On the other hand, officials are stating that the number of cases this year is far less than that in the previous year.
Most of the snakebite victims are farmers, who have been working in their fields and villagers, who have been sleeping in the open. Officials state that there are surplus numbers of antidotes — almost over 3,500 vials of anti-venom in all —available in the area hospitals across the district. Currently, in Avanigadda hospital, five duty doctors are offering their services in shifts to the snakebite victims. Moreover, special medical teams are being deployed in the villages, which are located in remote areas of the district.
District health officials confirmed that there were enough number of medicines and anti-venom vials available at all PHCs and area hospitals. Also, the officials have conducted awareness programmes on snakebites for the public, as not all snakebites are poisonous and fatal. The medical teams have been posted in places from where most of the snakebite cases are traditionally reported. This year, till date, the numbers of cases have been much less than that in the previous year.