Snakebites in this tropical nation prevail, therefore are misunderstandings that lead many individuals to choose suspicious remedies, such as spraying the bite with gas, instead of looking for medical treatment.
To counter false information, the NGO Vivarium Foundation provides academic talks and runs a hotline for snake bite victims.
“Bite (on) left leg with swelling in lower left limb, 6:40 in the early morning,” checks out a text for Alexander Puerta, 53, who reacts to inquiries from throughout the nation all the time.
Experts demand information about the victim and, if available, images of the snake in order to recognize the types.
The NGO asks concerns that eliminate incorrect alarms prior to triggering its procedure, in which it works as a bridge with health authorities, speaks with physicians and finds healthcare facilities with antivenom.
Fernando Yanes, another Vivarium specialist, says that in 2022 the NGO received more than 700 calls.
“Our dream is that we will have the ability to spend for assessments, administer the antivenom and follow up with the client,” says Yanes, keeping in mind that the NGO presently runs on a small from members’ contributions.
Antivenom is pricey
The most typical concern asked is where to get antivenom, produced by just one lab in Caracas and limited in public healthcare facilities.
A set of 5 ampules in drug stores can cost as much as $500, and more major cases need more dosages, a heavy monetary concern in a nation with a base pay of $4.50 monthly.
Venezuela has some 200 types of snakes, about a fifth of them extremely poisonous.
No main figures exist, however independent price quotes state some 10,000 individuals are bitten a year, with some 60 perishing as an outcome.
“It is a public health issue due to the fact that Venezuela is amongst the 10 to 15 nations with the greatest morbidity and death due to snake bites,” says herpetologist Luis Fernando Navarrete, who runs the serpentarium of the Tropical Medicine Institute at the Central University of Venezuela.
The World Health Organization approximates that 5.4 million individuals are bitten by snakes every year, triggering in between 80,000 and 130,000 deaths, the majority of them in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The lack of antivenom “is an international scourge,” Puerta says prior to lecturing at a nature reserve in Valencia in main Carabobo state, worrying that snakes are essential to well balanced environments.
“Unfortunately, in our culture, a good snake is a dead snake,” included Navarrete.
