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No antivenom shortage, says National Poisons Centre

24 Jun 2022

BY Dinitha Rathnayake  Despite a recent incident where a 16-year-old boy in Anuradhapura had died after being stung by a viper in his garden due to the unavailability of antivenom, the National Poisons Information Centre said yesterday (23) that there is no shortage of antivenom for snake bite victims. Speaking to The Morning, the centre said that drugs are still available for snake bites, adding however that they are not aware of the current storage statistics. A source from the Colombo National Hospital also said that they are treating snake bites, as patients are being admitted to the hospital with such injuries. Meanwhile, Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital’s Consultant Dr. Udaya De Silva has assured that Government hospitals have all necessary medical facilities to treat snake bite victims, and therefore urged people to take such patients to Government hospitals immediately for treatment. He made these remarks at a press briefing conducted by a group of medical specialists in Colombo. Referring to the  recent incident regarding the 16-year-old snake bite victim, Dr. De Silva urged that victims be immediately taken to a Government hospital, with or without the serpent that caused the injury. According to the father of the victim, his son was soon rushed to the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital after the incident for treatment and that the doctor in charge had advised him to bring a certain medicine from outside, as the particular medicine was not available in the hospital at the time. He said that although he had rushed to several private pharmacies in the area, he was unable to find the said medicine, and that due to this, his son had subsequently died.  According to specialist doctors, in the event of a snake bite, it is advised to slow the spread of the venom through the bloodstream to the heart by covering the bite with a clean and dry bandage. Dr. De Silva further said that doctors could also identify the particular serpent from the victim’s symptoms.  


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