The most recent estimates of the global burden of snakebite highlighted the need for good quality data on snakebite, particularly from nation-wide population-based studies. The main reason for this was the paucity of robust epidemiological data on the disease burden associated with snakebite. Despite this, snakebite did not, until very recently, receive the attention it deserves as an important public health problem. We used free and open source software and replicable methods, which we believe can be adopted to other regions where snakebite is a public health problem.īites of venomous snakes cause significant morbidity and mortality in the rural tropics. These maps would be useful for healthcare decision makers to allocate resources to manage snakebite in the country.
There was variation in numbers of bites and envenomings in different parts of the country and, using the data from our survey, we were able develop snakebite risk maps to identify snakebite hotspots and cold spots in the country. We found that there were more than 80,000 bites, 30,000 envenomings and 400 deaths due to snakebite, much more than claimed by official statistics. To get a truer picture of the situation in Sri Lanka, where snakebites are an important cause of hospital admission, we undertook an island-wide community survey to determine the number of bites, envenomings and deaths due to snakebite in the previous 12 months. On the other hand, time limited or localized surveys may be inaccurate as they may underestimate or overestimate numbers depending on when and where they are performed. Hospital statistics underestimate numbers of snakebites because a significant proportion of victims in tropical countries seek traditional treatments. There is little reliable data on snakebite, which makes it difficult to estimate the true disease burden. Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease which mainly affects the rural poor in tropical countries.
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