By CHIDINMA EWUNONU-ALUKO

An Epidemiologist, Dr Ifeoluwa Odedina, has cautioned Nigerians against applying tourniquet (a band or rope) around snake bite locations.

Odedina, Senior Registrar, Department of Community Medicine, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, made the remark on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.

The Public Health doctor warned that applying tourniquet around snake bite locations could cause more damage by concentrating the destructive effect of the snake venom in one part of the body.

Odedina emphasised that it might further cause a loss of the limb.

To prevent snake bite, he advised people to always keep all the vegetation around their houses low, make sure lawns are well trimmed and flowers dressed.

“Clear piles of rubbish and stacks of unused relics like old vehicles and other junk away from your compound.

“Another important strategy is to make sure you are not keeping a house that is a source of food for these reptiles; snakes feed on small animals like rats, mice and squirrels.

“If your house has plenty of rats, it is possible to attract snakes who are searching for food.

“So taking care of rodents is a good way to make your house unattractive to reptiles; you can even keep a cat to help you do that if necessary,” he said.

According to him, if one falls victim, it is important to get to the hospital as soon as possible so that the antivenom can be administered.

While noting that antivenom is available in the UCH, Ibadan, Odedina stressed the need for all hospitals to have antivenom to easily attend to victims when brought in.

He stressed that each local government health authority needs to invest in having it available at designated general hospitals that were not far from rural areas especially near farming communities where the risks of snakebite were high.

“Snake antivenom is a product that often needs to be refrigerated so it might not be easy to store just anywhere without losing its potency.

“But a network of sources can be established to make it available and quickly procure it for whoever requires it.

“There should also be a database available to all clinics or even the public with a list of sources to procure it,” he said.

The Public Health physician emphasised that snakebite was not a very common occurrence, so people should not be unduly afraid.

“They should remain calm and ensure that they take the precautions I explained earlier, by maintaining an environment that is clean, well cultivated and free of rodents and they will be relatively safe.

“It is also important for health authorities at the local level to make efforts to ensure that antivenom is available at the health facilities for quick administration to whoever is bitten,” Odedina said. (NAN)

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