Viper bite treatment consequences. Viper bite: is it fatal to humans or not? What to do if bitten by a viper
Bites from vipers and other poisonous snakes pose a threat to a child's life. Parents who take their children on a picnic often have no idea what to do or how to help their child if he is bitten by a snake. Timely provision of first aid can save the health and life of the baby.
Why are bites from vipers and other poisonous snakes dangerous?
When going outdoors with your child, study the main types of snakes that live in your area. Vipers and other venomous snakes are distinguished by vertical pupils (the so-called cat's eye). They are usually dark in color. During the mating season (spring) they become very aggressive, and their poison is more toxic.
If a baby is attacked by a non-venomous snake, the child may experience classic symptoms of intoxication - nausea, vomiting, weakness, dizziness. The body's reaction to a poisonous snake bite depends on the type of poison it injected. There are two main types:
- paralyzing – stops neuromuscular transmission, leading to paralysis and death of the victim;
- hemovasotoxic - disrupts the normal functioning of blood vessels, causing their spasm, increasing permeability and leading to edema.
Bite symptoms
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If a child is bitten by a viper or other poisonous snake, a parent or any other adult should immediately call an ambulance, examine the wound and provide first aid.
When bitten by a viper, clear large holes from the front teeth will be visible; A non-venomous snake usually has small teeth in 2 rows
A poisonous snake bite is accompanied by the following symptoms:
- the appearance of two round dots at the site of the bite - marks from the puncture of poisonous teeth;
- burning, swelling, redness, pain in the wound;
- development of intoxication syndrome after 20–40 minutes: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, increased body temperature.
First aid for a bite
When bitten by a viper or other snake, getting help as quickly as possible is crucial. Before medical personnel arrive, the following steps must be completed:
- Calm the child. After a bite, the poison enters the bloodstream, physical activity and strong feelings will increase blood circulation, accelerating the spread of the dangerous substance throughout the body. The baby needs to be seated or laid down and nervous tension relieved.
- Remove poison. During the first minutes after the bite, it is necessary to pump out the venom from the puncture points by squeezing or sucking it out of the wound. If there is damage in the oral cavity or the teeth are affected by caries, you should not suck out the poison.
- Treat the wound. The damaged area can be washed with soapy water, treated with alcohol or brilliant green, and a loose bandage applied, preferably sterile.
- Immobilize limbs. As a rule, snakes bite in the arm or leg. The bitten limb should be secured with a bandage that would prevent movement.
- Drink regularly. To quickly remove the poison from the body, it is necessary to provide the baby with plenty of fluids.
Drinking plenty of liquid will help remove the poison from the body faster.
What should you absolutely not do if you are bitten by a snake?
Parents often make serious mistakes when trying to provide first aid to a child who has been bitten by a snake. The most common ones include:
- applying a strong tourniquet at or above the bite site causes necrosis and tissue death and can lead to amputation;
- cauterizing a wound with hot coal or metal adds pain and anxiety to the baby without any benefit, since snake venom is not destroyed by high temperatures;
- cutting the bite site increases the likelihood of painful shock and additional infection of the wound.
Precautionary measures
Before going into the forest with a child, you need to carefully think through everything in order to eliminate the threat of a bite: choose the right clothes and shoes, study the area, and also provide instructions on what to do when in contact with a viper.
Preparation for outdoor recreation with your baby should include the following points:
Vipers are a family of venomous snakes. You can meet them almost everywhere except Australia, the islands of Oceania, New Guinea and Madagascar. In the fauna of the countries of the former USSR, there are about 9 species of real vipers, not to mention copperheads and giant vipers.
Common vipers in black and normal colors
All vipers have two relatively long fangs, hollow inside, through which venom comes from the poisonous glands located behind the upper jaw. Each canine is placed on a maxillary bone that rotates back and forth. Most of the time, the fangs are folded back and covered with a filmy membrane. The fangs can rotate autonomously from each other. When attacked, the viper opens its mouth at an angle of up to 180 degrees and protrudes its fangs on a bone rotating forward. Upon contact, the jaws close and the strong muscles that surround the venom glands contract, stimulating the release of venom. All this happens so quickly, almost instantly, that it is more of a blow than a bite. Vipers act in a similar way both to immobilize the victim and for self-defense.
How to protect yourself from a viper bite
In most cases, you can protect yourself from the bite of a viper or any other snake by following basic rules of behavior in potentially dangerous places:
1. Unless you are specialized in catching snakes and don't understand the types of snakes, it is better not to touch them and do not allow children to play with them.
2. In areas where snakes live, give preference to durable high shoes.
3. Stay vigilant in thick grass and overgrown holes. Before you set foot there, check for vipers lurking there.
4. Never chase a snake.
5. When picking mushrooms or berries, feel the grass around them with a stick. This will allow the viper to crawl away and at least detect itself by hissing
6. If you see a snake crawling, do not move until it crawls away.
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7. If the snake has taken a threatening pose, slowly step back without making any sudden movements. Do not put your hands forward in defense. Do not turn your back to the snake. If you have a stick, hold it in front of you towards the snake. Do not run from a snake you encounter; you may step on another one that was previously unnoticed.
8. Use a flashlight at night, as some snakes are especially active on warm summer nights.
9. Promptly destroy rodents in your homes, outbuildings, and garden plots, since mice and rats are very attractive to snakes.
10. If you live in areas where poisonous snakes live, as a preventive measure, coat the threshold of your house with mustard every day. Snakes are very sensitive to it and, as a rule, do not crawl over objects treated with it.
11. Do not spend the night near trees with hollows, near rotten stumps, caves, or garbage heaps. In steppe conditions, carefully inspect your bed or sleeping bag before going to bed. If you see a snake in your bed in the morning, do not panic, do not make sudden movements that could provoke its attack. It’s better to call for help and wait for the snake to crawl away on its own. With some skill, you can try to throw off a snake that is on a blanket or sleeping bag with a sudden sharp movement, while not forgetting about your neighbors in the tent.
What are the consequences of a viper bite?
Bites of common and steppe vipers, which are most common in the middle zone, are accompanied by a certain danger to human health. However, death is recorded in less than 1% of cases and, as a rule, in childhood with untimely treatment. The closer it is to the head, the greater the danger of a bite. In addition, the toxicity of the poison increases with the onset of spring and decreases in summer.
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Often the bite falls on a limb. At the bitten site there are two punctate wounds from poisonous snake fangs. After a bite, severe, increasing pain immediately appears. Neurotropic cytotoxins in viper venom affect nerve cells. Other substances lead to a range of blood clotting disorders and tissue death.
With a local reaction, in the very first minutes after the bite, redness and heat are observed in the bitten part of the body, and swelling develops upward from the bite site.
After 15-20 minutes, and sometimes immediately, signs of a general reaction appear:
- headache,
- dizziness,
- lethargy,
- nausea,
- in some cases vomiting,
- labored breathing,
- heart rhythm disturbances.
As a rule, a viper bite is not accompanied by clouding of consciousness. However, the bitten person may still have a sluggish, “drunk” appearance.
Complications after a bite can last for weeks. In most cases, this is caused by improper self-medication methods.
What not to do if bitten by a viper
Firstly, you cannot cut the wound crosswise or completely cut out the affected area. Such cuts are fraught with infection, damage to veins and tendons.
Secondly, you should not cauterize the bitten area with objects heated on fire, coals, or gunpowder. The length of snake fangs reaches a centimeter, which helps the venom penetrate deep into the muscle tissue.
Thirdly, you should not cauterize the bite site with caustic potassium, nitric, sulfuric and carbolic acids or kerosene.
Fifthly, it is forbidden to apply a tourniquet above the bitten area, as this can worsen the victim’s condition, develop gangrenous phenomena and increase the risk of death. The tourniquet leads to stagnation of blood and even tissue necrosis, but it does not affect the spread of poison.
Sixthly, injecting medicine into the wound is not allowed.
And, finally, seventhly, you should not drink alcohol, since, contrary to popular belief, it is not only not an antidote, but, on the contrary, enhances the effect of the poison and complicates its removal from the body.
What can you do if you are bitten by a viper?
If you are bitten by a viper, you should immediately seek medical help. On the way to a medical facility, it is very important to keep the bitten part of the body motionless. The limb can be fixed using an ordinary scarf or sticks.
If there is no hope for medical help in the near future, then:
1. Move the victim to a comfortable and protected place. Place him so that his head is lower than his body, which will reduce the severity of possible cerebrovascular accidents. Provide the victim with complete peace.
2. Using pressure movements, open the wound and begin to actively suck out the poison with your mouth, massaging the bite area towards the wounds. Intensive suction during the first 5-7 minutes allows you to remove up to 40% of the poison, while after 15-30 minutes this figure decreases to 10%. If a hand is bitten, the victim himself can suck out the poison.
When sucking, you should periodically spit out the bloody liquid, and at the end of the procedure, you should rinse your mouth with potassium permanganate or plain water. It should be noted that if there are wounds in the mouth or dental caries, it is strictly forbidden to suck out the poison with your mouth.
3. When the first signs of swelling appear, stop suction and treat the bitten area with antiseptics. The use of brilliant green is not recommended, as it will make it more difficult for the doctor to examine the wound.
4. Apply a sterile bandage to the damaged area, loosen it as swelling develops to avoid it cutting into the soft tissue.
5. To slow down the spread of poison in the body, minimize the mobility of the affected part of the body. If your hand is bitten, bend it and fix it in this position. You can apply a splint.
6. To normalize the water-salt balance and remove poison from the body, provide the victim with plenty of fluids. Give him plenty of strong tea, broth or water.
7. If possible, give the victim 2-3 tablets of an antihistamine.
8. Do everything in your power to get the viper bite victim to the nearest medical facility as quickly as possible. If there are no vehicles, transport the victim on a stretcher.
Many people consider the introduction of a special serum to be a panacea for a viper bite. You can buy it at a pharmacy before traveling out of town. However, doctors do not recommend doing this, since this drug requires special storage conditions, and its shelf life is very limited. In addition, in most cases you can get by with more gentle means.
- Vipers behave most aggressively in the spring and early summer months.
- Vipers are poisonous immediately after birth.
- Viper bites do not always lead to poisoning. In about 25% of cases they do not release venom when attacked.
The common viper is the most common species of venomous snake in Eurasia. Compared to its non-venomous relatives, the viper has a more massive, shortened body with a length of 65 cm to 1 m, an expanded shield-shaped head and a vertical pupil. Color ranges from light gray to black, predominantly with a diamond or zigzag pattern on the back.
The viper lives in mixed forests, on the banks of freshwater bodies of water, peat bogs, outskirts of fields and wet meadows. It makes shelter in burrows, piles of branches and damp dead wood. Sometimes it can settle in garden plots in old piles of firewood, construction waste, etc. The bite of a viper is painful for humans and in some cases can be fatal.
Vipers
In their natural habitat, snakes try to avoid meeting people. Since they do not have ears, reptiles sense the approach of a person by vibrations in the soil using their abdomen. It happens that the forest floor, consisting of peat or thick grass, makes it difficult for vibrations to spread, and the viper notices the danger too late. In this case, the snake first tries to scare off the enemy by hissing, curling up into a ball. If this does not help, he attacks with a short sharp throw. The length of the throw is approximately one third of the length of the snake's body.
A viper bite is dangerous for humans due to the possibility of developing anaphylactic shock, since the venom often causes allergic reactions. Whether or not a bite turns out to be fatal depends on the promptness of first aid and the correctness of actions. It is important to remember that rescue measures must begin immediately, since the toxic substance rapidly spreads throughout the body.
Experienced herpetologists, in response to the question of whether the bite of this snake is fatal, claim that for an adult who is not allergic to the components of the poisonous substance, the poison is practically safe. The amount of toxin in a common viper is designed to kill small animals; for humans this amount is not enough. However, if an hour after the bite the victim experiences symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea, flashing lights in the eyes, bleeding from the mucous membranes and loss of consciousness, the person must be taken to the hospital immediately.
Symptoms and signs of a snake bite
Immediately after a person has been bitten by a viper, two small round holes with minor bruising will be observed at the site of the lesion.
There is no severe bleeding from a viper bite, because the venom has a hemolytic effect - the blood in the wounds quickly clots.
The damaged area turns red, becomes hot to the touch, and a sharp pain occurs, which increases with the development of swelling. The most commonly observed symptoms are:
- lethargy;
- nausea;
- dizziness;
- cardiopalmus;
- dyspnea.
In rare cases, a state of inhibition is observed. As the poison spreads over the entire surface of the affected limb, numerous subcutaneous bruises, bruises and hematomas occur. These symptoms disappear completely after 2–3 weeks.
First aid to the victim
The main thing in a critical situation is to try to remain calm. In most cases, irreparable damage to health is caused by improper medical care, and not by the bite itself. To avoid common mistakes, let's consider what to do if you are bitten by a viper. Most often, the incident happens in the forest, and it is not possible to quickly deliver the victim to a medical facility. In this case, first aid must be provided independently and as quickly as possible.
It is important to remember that the closer the snake bite is to the head, the more dangerous it is. Rapidly developing swelling, which spreads to the mucous membranes of the nose and larynx, leads to difficulty breathing. Delay can be fatal. The first step is to immediately take any antiallergic drug. It is better if it is an injection of Dexamethasone or Diphenhydramine. These drugs have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect, relieve swelling and prevent the development of anaphylactic shock.
If the bite is on your arms or legs, you can try to suck out the poison from the wound. This should be done in the first 3-5 minutes after the bite. After this time, the procedure loses its meaning, since the special enzyme contained in the viper's venom - hyaluronidase - quickly removes toxic substances from the wound into the lymphatic system.
To suck out the poison, you need to open the wound by pressing on the bite site so that a fold of skin is formed. When droplets of blood appear, it is necessary to remove the poison with short suction movements, constantly spitting out the contents. The procedure must be continued for 10–15 minutes. After this, it is advisable to treat the bite site with a solution of hydrogen peroxide and cover the wound with a clean bandage to prevent infection.
The victim should be given more liquid to drink: it is better if it is water. If you have lingonberry leaves on hand, you can brew tea from them. This will enhance the diuretic effect, and the poison will leave the body faster. Coffee and alcohol are contraindicated: their vasodilating and nervous system-stimulating actions can aggravate the situation, contributing to more rapid poisoning.
The injured limb must be fixed motionless, since when moving, the blood circulates more actively and the poison spreads faster throughout the body. After providing first aid, the victim must be taken to a medical facility as quickly as possible, where the person will be injected with a snake antidote to neutralize toxic substances in the body. If you do not promptly seek qualified medical help or take incorrect actions in the first hours after the bite, dangerous consequences can occur. Complications can be severe, including chronic renal failure or death.
Treatment
In the hospital, the person will be given an injection of serum, the necessary procedures will be carried out, the wound will be treated with an antiseptic and a sterile bandage will be applied. The viper antidote begins to work after a few hours. All this time, the patient should be under the supervision of a doctor, who, if necessary, will prescribe additional medications.
It takes about 5–7 days until the symptoms of poisoning disappear. Treatment of a bite during this period consists of following bed rest and the recommendations of the attending physician. In some cases, the affected limb may hurt for another 2-3 weeks. To reduce pain during sleep, it is necessary to build an elevation on the bed and place the affected limb 15–20 cm above the level of the heart. This position will help relieve discomfort, since lymph circulation in the limb will be limited.
What not to do if bitten by a viper
There is often information that when bitten by snakes, a tight bandage or tourniquet must be applied to the affected part of the body to prevent the spread of the poisonous substance throughout the body. This opinion is wrong; under no circumstances should a tourniquet be applied. The enzyme contained in the viper's venom causes tissue necrosis. In a confined space, this process occurs rapidly and gangrene begins. A large number of toxins that accumulate, when the bandage is loosened, enter the bloodstream and cause severe poisoning of the body. In the worst case, such actions can lead to amputation of a limb.
Do not cut the bite or try to cauterize it with alcohol solutions, potassium permanganate or any other chemicals. These manipulations will not affect the poison in any way, but will lead to infection in the wound and the development of complications.
Prevention
When going into nature, you need to remember the main safety rules, be extremely careful and watch your step. It is necessary to choose the right clothing that will help protect against bites. Trousers made of thick fabric and high boots are the most suitable option for walking in tall grass and marshy areas. When picking mushrooms or berries, before you put your hand in the grass or a pile of old branches, you need to check with a stick to see if there is a snake there.
When setting up an overnight stay in the forest, you must remember that at night vipers can crawl to the fire and crawl into tents and sleeping bags to warm themselves. In these conditions, it is important to always have a flashlight and carefully examine the area before stepping somewhere, sitting or lying down.
If the meeting could not be avoided, you need to remember that the snake is also afraid. The reptile perceives a person as a potential threat and will attack only as a last resort. It is necessary to remain calm and not make sudden movements. Having made sure that nothing threatens it, the viper will quickly leave.
Pulmonologist, Therapist, Cardiologist, Functional Diagnostics Doctor. Doctor of the highest category. Work experience: 9 years. Graduated from Khabarovsk State Medical Institute, clinical residency in therapy. I am engaged in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases of internal organs, and also conduct medical examinations. I treat diseases of the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, and cardiovascular system.
Poisonous snakes live almost throughout the entire planet, and vipers are a common species. This is a rather peaceful creature that will never attack a person just like that - only if it is disturbed and it senses danger. A viper bite is not fatal, but painful; deaths are extremely rare (only in cases of failure to provide first aid and improper treatment). The most dangerous bites are to the head and neck, which occurs infrequently, since vipers in most cases bite into the leg or arm. But if help is provided in time and treatment is carried out correctly, then the person recovers within three days.
After contact with this type of snake, red dots first appear on the skin - marks from teeth, around which a red spot soon forms. Later, painful swelling occurs in the damaged area of the body, the skin swells and changes color to a bluish tint. If the bite is made in the arm or leg (which happens most often), then the victim’s fingers begin to go numb and tingle. In rare cases, vascular thrombosis can occur, so timely administration of an antidote is important.
Symptoms of a viper bite
It often happens that at first a person does not even understand that it is his, and the fact that viper venom has entered the body, as indicated by the symptoms that appear after 15-20 minutes. These are very characteristic signs that are difficult to miss, and a person develops:
- Redness of the wound and noticeable pain;
- Dizziness and nausea, and in some cases vomiting;
- Headache, severe weakness, chills throughout the body;
- Increased temperature and rapid heartbeat;
- Difficulty breathing and signs of suffocation.
In severe cases, blood pressure may drop sharply, convulsions may begin, and the person may lose consciousness. And if first aid is not provided, then within half an hour even death is possible. Giant vipers pose a particular risk; their bites are the most dangerous.
First aid for a snake bite
Before a specialist helps the victim and administers an antidote, it is necessary to provide emergency assistance to the person bitten by the viper. There is nothing super complicated about this, all the steps are quite simple. The main thing is to act calmly and very quickly.
- Place the victim in a comfortable position with the body relaxed.
- Massage the damaged area towards the bite to prevent the poison from spreading throughout the body; the sooner you start doing this, the better.
- Suck the poison out of the wound with your mouth, spitting out the liquid. If you do this in the first five minutes after the bite, 40% of the toxic substance will be removed from the blood. If this time is lost, then in the next 10-15 minutes you can remove, at best, 10%.
- Treat the affected area of the skin with any antiseptic that is at hand - hydrogen peroxide, chlorhexidine, etc. But under no circumstances do you use brilliant green.
- Apply a sterile bandage to the wound, without tightening, so as not to tighten the muscles.
- Provide the victim with plenty of fluids, this will help remove the poison faster.
- If possible, give the victim a couple of antihistamine tablets.
- After this, the bitten person must be taken to the hospital as quickly as possible.
Remember: a person’s life depends on your prompt and accurate actions. Do not be afraid to suck out the poison from the wound, it will not harm you (provided that there is no damage to the oral cavity), and do not forget to rinse your mouth with a weak solution of potassium permanganate afterwards.
What not to do if bitten by a viper
When dealing with a snake bite, there are a number of rules that must be strictly followed. There are actions that victims in panic or out of ignorance perform, not suspecting that this is absolutely forbidden to do. What actions are prohibited if you are bitten by a snake?
- Cover the wound with earth, cover it with cobwebs and pour kerosene on it.
- Cutting a wound to remove the poison will only cause infection.
- Burning the bite site with a match or lighter will give nothing but pain.
- Inject an anesthetic or anti-inflammatory drug into the wound.
- Drinking alcohol will slow down the removal of toxic substances from the body.
The most common mistake that is made most often is applying a tourniquet. By pulling the area above the wound, the victim provokes stagnation of blood, which causes necrosis of the soft tissues. And this is already fraught with gangrene and death.
Treatment after a viper bite
In addition to administering the serum, the doctor will thoroughly clean the wound with iodine or another antiseptic and apply a sterile dressing to reduce the risk of infection. The victim is also prescribed a course of antihistamines, for example, Diphenhydramine or Tavegil. It is good if the patient knows exactly what type of snake the “meeting” took place with, since their venoms have some differences. For example, giant vipers and the Levant viper - there are different serums for bites. And if the doctor correctly determines the type of snake that has bitten, he will more accurately select an antidote. Photo
Folk remedies for snake bites
Of course, snake venom cannot be neutralized solely with folk recipes, and self-medication is dangerous for life. Traditional medicine will not remove toxic substances from the body, but they can help slow their spread. Such methods can only be used as additional measures and always with the permission of a doctor - folk remedies will not cure, but will help the body recover. Extracting the veronica herb will help minimize the effects of the poison; you can use it to make lotions - this will relieve swelling. Or make an infusion and take a warm bath.
Juniper berries, chamomile flowers, bay oil and nettle have similar properties. A hot bath with milk is a great way to relieve weakness, and plantain juice and horse sorrel will help relieve pain and redness. Another natural antidote to snake venom is elecampane root, ginger and St. John's wort. And boiled vinegar is also a good helper; you can use it to make anti-inflammatory compresses. The main thing is not to overdo it and make tinctures strictly according to recipes. As additional actions folk remedies.
Why is a viper bite dangerous?
The question of whether a viper bite is dangerous can be answered unequivocally: yes, it is dangerous, and in some cases even fatal. Snake venom has hemolytic properties and has a very negative effect on the body. The consequences of a viper bite are deplorable: swelling with dried blood, terribly bluish skin, numbness of the fingers (which even stop bending), as well as very poor health, the symptoms of which are described above. In the best case, the victim will suffer from chills, nausea and dizziness, the temperature will rise and a state of agitation will occur. In the worst case, the pressure will drop, vomiting will begin and convulsions will begin, followed by possible loss of consciousness.
How to avoid a viper bite
If you often go to the forest or have your own personal plot, then the likelihood of meeting a viper increases significantly. What to do in such cases? The main thing is not to panic; the snake itself will never just attack a person. Observe the following rules:
- Wear sturdy shoes, if possible high and thick-soled;
- When you see a viper, stand still and do not make any sudden movements;
- If the viper notices and makes a “stand”, do not put your hands forward;
- Under no circumstances throw anything at the snake so as not to scare it away, it is dangerous;
- Experienced mushroom pickers advise smearing mustard on shoes; this smell repels snakes;
- Do not pitch your tent near rotten stumps, caves, or trees with hollows;
- Do not run away suddenly when you see a snake, retreat carefully and slowly;
- If the viper notices and hisses, freeze and try to stand quietly;
- Always walk through the forest with a stick, pushing aside leaves with it to spot the viper;
- Watch your step carefully; if you step on a snake, it will bite!
Remember that vipers have very poor eyesight, but excellent hearing and instant reaction, they react to every movement and sound. If you don’t scare the snake, it simply won’t notice, and accordingly, it won’t show any aggression and will calmly crawl away.
Even children know that vipers are dangerous. The survival rate after a snake attack is high, but it is better to avoid a collision with this reptile than to urgently look for an antidote later. All snakes of this species are poisonous. However, a viper bite does not always lead to death, although the mortality rate among those bitten is high.
The snake is small in size and widely distributed in Europe and Asia. Viper venom is safe for hedgehogs. These animals are considered enemies of reptiles and even hunt snakes in their natural environment.
Deaths after encountering a viper do not always occur. If you provide assistance to the victim in time, the prognosis is favorable, although complications from the bite of a common viper may persist for a year.
Much is known about vipers; most of them lead a terrestrial lifestyle, but herpetologists provide interesting facts. They identified earthen individuals, which live under the surface of the soil, and shrubby individuals, which prefer trees and bushes. The swamp snake, known as the chain viper, enjoys a humid microclimate.
All these species are dangerous, despite the fact that they are small in size compared to cobra or. But they have a long lifespan - 15 years on average. Some individuals live twice as long. The places where these reptiles live are forests, wastelands, and wet meadows. The head of the snakes has a flattened shape, the color varies, but 50% of the individuals are black snakes.
If we talk about the varieties of reptiles, there are 58 species, among which are common:
- Levant viper- the largest of the vipers, which is also known as the viper. It can reach 2 m. Weight ranges from 1.5 to 3 kg. It lives mainly in North-West Africa, but is found in Transcaucasia and Armenia. Exterminated in Kazakhstan and Israel. Extremely dangerous, second only to the king cobra in toxicity of venom;
- Nikolsky's viper- lives in the southern part of Russia and Ukraine, there are also limited habitats in the Southern and Middle Urals. Prefers mixed forests and is found even in the city. It is black in color, juveniles are lighter;
- common viper– common in Europe, found in Belarus and the Russian Federation. This species is most often referred to as Moscow region snakes. Its bites are dangerous, but deaths are associated with the lack of qualified medical care and aggravating factors: childhood or old age, concomitant diseases, etc.;
- Gaboon viper is an African snake known as the cassava. It is characterized by slowness and weak reaction to stimuli. Rarely attacks humans, but if this happens, the risk of death is high;
- steppe viper– found in Crimea, southeastern Ukraine, Kazakhstan. Prefers plains with ravines and bushes. The venom of the steppe viper is of particular value. In large quantities causes death;
- Caucasian viper- lives in the territories of the Greater Caucasus up to Turkey. Prefers forests and meadows;
- pit snakes- belong to the viper family, but have a different subfamily. Known as rattlesnakes. A large group that lives in different territories and has different colors.
All individuals can swim, although there are no directly aquatic species. Can a snake bite in water?? Until now, such cases have not been recorded, but you should not tempt fate. Snakes swim quite quickly and tend to move away to a safe distance.
ICD 10 code
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10) assigns a code for venomous bites - T63. It doesn’t matter what poison the victim was exposed to: whether he was attacked by a cobra or bitten by a viper, the encoding will be the same.
Bite symptoms
It is not always possible to recognize the symptoms of a bite in time, since the vipers instantly inject poison, and the person develops shock. What does the bite site look like?? The skin turns red, hemorrhages appear, and punctures in the teeth are visible. The victim remains in a confused state for some time. The shock lasts from 20 to 40 minutes. In the future, symptoms are determined by individual reactions and the amount of injected poison. Severe manifestations of intoxication occur in children and underweight individuals. For the most part, the snake bites on the limbs, but the closer the injury is to the head or heart, the more severe the symptoms.
Characteristic signs of poisoning are:
- severe pain at the site of the bite:
- hyperemia and rapid swelling;
- single red spot or multiple marks;
- decreased blood pressure;
- cyanosis, gangrene;
- nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness;
- violation of swallowing and respiratory functions.
The swelling quickly covers the soft tissues. The victim's condition deteriorates sharply, poisoning reaches its maximum within 12-24 hours. Local hemorrhages are observed, small vessels literally burst, and hemorrhagic blisters appear. Hemorrhage of internal organs is also possible. Without adequate medical care, the likelihood of death is high.
What to do if bitten by a viper
If it is possible to contact doctors or quickly take the victim to the hospital, this must be done. In domestic conditions, providing assistance with the bite of a poisonous snake, including a viper, is problematic.
Basic actions when attacked by a snake:
- take the victim to a safe place;
- suck out the poison;
- lay him down and give him more liquid to drink;
- if you have an antiallergic drug on hand (Suprastin, Diazolin), it is given in a standard dosage.
So, what to do if you are bitten by a viper?? Doctors argue about the advisability of suctioning out the poison. Firstly, the method is effective within 10 minutes after the attack. Secondly, if there are wounds in the rescuer’s mouth, the poison can enter his body. And then first aid will lead to two victims from the viper’s bite. Thirdly, the likelihood of infection increases. However, a correctly performed procedure reduces the concentration of poison in the human body by 30-50%.
You definitely can’t apply a tourniquet above the site of injury, but a pressure bandage that is loosened as the swelling spreads will help. If the victim is sent in an ambulance, then the time when the pressure bandage was made is indicated to the doctors.
This is where the emergency assistance ends. The remaining manipulations are carried out in the hospital. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what to do if they are bitten by a viper, and therefore make mistakes. So, the victim needs rest, he should not be given alcohol, and it is better to treat the wound itself with a non-alcoholic antiseptic. It is not always possible to provide adequate first aid when bitten by a viper in the forest or in nature. The therapeutic tactic is to administer an antidote serum, but it cannot be found in a home medicine cabinet. Therefore, before hospitalization, the first medical aid for a person bitten by a viper in the forest involves immobilization, possibly applying a splint.
To stabilize blood circulation, the limbs (mainly legs) are raised to a height. Cooling the injured area is also part of first aid for a snakebite, but do not pour water or apply soil on the area - this increases the likelihood of infection.
What else you should not do when bitten by a viper is cut the wound to release the poison. Do not cauterize the puncture or actively move the limb. Because of this, the speed of spread of the poison increases. It is difficult to help a pregnant woman or children who have become victims of a snake. They are offered similar manipulations, but without the assistance of doctors it is almost impossible to achieve improvements.
Treatment
Anti-snake serums are designed to neutralize viper venom in the hospital. It doesn’t matter which part of the body the reptile bit, but the type of snake matters. Antigyurza in ampoules helps against viper bites. In medical practice it is also used: “ «.
There are no vaccinations against snakebites as such, but a vaccine with an antisnake component neutralizes the poison and saves internal organs from damage. The antidote for a viper can be a composite one - for example, “Anticobra and “Antigyurza”. After the antidote has entered the body, other consequences of the viper bite are eliminated.
Antishock therapy is carried out. As soon as the antidote begins to act, Prednisolone and Diphenhydramine are additionally prescribed for a viper bite. For mild poisoning, specific treatment is not necessary. The doctor conducts diagnostics and determines the condition of vital systems. Long-term rehabilitation will most likely not be required. But treatment is not stopped, because after a viper bite there can be serious complications. It is recommended to take antihistamine tablets, medications that will help relieve swelling and improve kidney function.
Complications and consequences
The possibility of developing conditions incompatible with life cannot be excluded if the victim is not provided with assistance. A viper bite is always dangerous for humans, but weakened people, children and pregnant women often die. For a child, snake venom is doubly dangerous. If you do not provide prompt first aid, the baby may die on the way to the hospital.
Typical complications of intoxication:
- renal and liver failure;
- phlebothrombosis;
- tissue necrosis and gangrene.
There are also less frightening consequences after a viper bite. Thus, swelling of the soft tissues may persist for several weeks. Associated consequences of a viper bite are infections.
Prevention
A healthy relationship with nature is the best defense against snake attacks. Vipers live in families, so when one individual appears, it can be assumed that up to a dozen snakes live in this place. Safety rules include wearing high shoes and closed clothing.
How to protect yourself from a snake in the forest? There is no need to stay overnight and put up a tent in potentially dangerous places, and if suspicious reptiles appear, you should not check whether they are aggressive. To avoid a viper bite, you need to freeze. Snakes do not like panic and, in defense, can rush at a person.
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