Tika Ram Upreti
Jhapa, Aug. 3: Farmers with weak living condition and those working in farms often fall prey to snakebites in their homes and farms.
A study on the “Condition of Snakebite Patients and Cause,” revealed that most deprived people, women and children were at the high risk of snakebites due to unsafe living conditions.
Phulmani Shah, 40, of Shivasatakshi Municipality-4, Jhapa, was bitten by a poisonous snake at her home at 10 am on Sunday.
The snake that had been hiding in the pile of firewood suddenly came out and bit her left leg, she said.
She was taken to the Damak-based snake bite treatment centre at around 11 a.m.
Like Shah, Nirmala Thapa, 50, of Pathari Shanishchhare Municipality-5 in Morang district, was bitten by a snake while she was walking on the road on Saturday evening. She had returned from Damak Snake Bite Treatment Centre just a week ago.
Most of the patients who come to the treatment centre said they were bitten by the snakes while working and walking in the farms, or even sleeping in their beds. Likewise, children are bitten while playing in the road.
Devi Prasad Bhandari, in-charge of Snake Bite and Community Health Service run by sub-branch of the Red Cross Society at Damak, informed that the number of snakebite patients has been increasing with the onset of the summer season.
According to Bhandari, 981 snakebite patients came to Damak in 2018. Similarly, 883 patients visited it in 2019 and 81 patients visited it by August 2 this year. The report said that out of the total patients, 55 per cent were women.
Most of the patients are living in mud huts in the Terai district. According the record kept by the treatment centre.Snakes enter directly in such poorly built homes.
Likewise, children playing outdoors in the mud and farmers working in the fields are also at the risk of snakebites, according to data provided by the treatment centre.
Some 15 per cent of children who come to the centre for the treatment of snakebites are aged below 10 years.
Since snakes go out in search of food in the morning and evening, there is an increased risk during this time, while children choose to play outside during that time.
Other researches have also shown that children are more prone to snakebites. Climate change is also causing migration of snakes, increasing the risk of snakebites, experts said.