Snake Bites In Mukinge, Zambia.

Sub Saharan Africa has some of the most venomous snakes in the world. Even before we left for our recent medical mission in Mukinge, Zambia, we were warned about the snakes there. We had to beon the look out for snakes  during the seven minutes walk from our residence to the hospital through the grassy fields and the dusty street. As part of the streets had no street light and as elecricity failure was a regular happening there, we always had to carry a flash light with us. From the British heritage, the Zambians continue to call the flash light "torch light". Fortunately for us we did not see any live snakes on our way. Our missionary friend had a couple of these unwelcome visitors which ended up getting killed.

(This seven years old boy was bitten by snake on his right index finger)

I had several victims of snake bite in the hospital during our stay in Mukinge. Surprisingly all of them were boys between the ages of seven and ten and all the bites were on their fingers, that too on the right hand. Thank god, all of them survived. These children are brought to teh hospital typically with markedly swollen hand and blisters around the finger with the bite marks. Usually they will have multiple scratch marks around their arm and forearm with some dried poultice stuck on all over the skin. It is customary for the Zambians to go to their Native Doctors first and try the natural treatment with herbs before coming to the hospital. Of the intense inflammation the patient has is partly from the infected scratches on the arm. Eventhough there were not much systemic envenomation, the local tissue reaction and sloughing had resulted in loss of the finger in one child I treated there.

Before putting the child to sleep in the operstion theatre, our anasthetist asked him if he did put his hand in the hole. he said, 'yes'. Then she recounted her experience with another boy the week before I came to Mukinge. He explained to her taht he was very hungry and was on the look out for mice.He went and put his hand in the hole and was stung by something which he thought was a mouse. He was elated and put the hand back in to grab it and got bitten again. There was no mouse, it was a snake that bit him twice.

Now that explains why all the victims of snake bite were young boys and all of them were bitten on the fingers of their dominent hand!