Dr. Shilpa Anand Hakki,
BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to determine the incidence and study clinical profile of snake bites reported in Community Health Center, Haliyal. MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective study was conducted at Community Health Center, Haliyal. All patients with definite history of snake bite were included, categorized and studied as per fixed protocols. Study period was December 2015 to March 2017. RESULTS Total number of snake bite victims reported was 65 from December 2015 to March 2017. There was higher number of male victims as compared to the females. The higher number of cases, 42 out of 65 belonged to the age group less than 40 years. Out of 65 cases, 12 were referred to higher center. In our study, farmers were mostly affected while working in farms and upper limb was more commonly involved than lower limb in contrary to other studies. CONCLUSION Haliyal is a forest area, so there is much risk of exposure to snake bites. Snake bite is imposing significant burden on health service despite of the fact that it is preventable. There is urgent need of continuous awareness program for general public and improvise treating capacity of health care providers regarding first aid and emergency medical line of treatment. There is need of developing Community Health Centers with ICU with Ventilators to prevent mortality and morbidity due to delay in transfer of needful patients to tertiary care.
