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RE: Venomous Bites this year
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by agkistrodude on February 3, 2010
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I wasn't looking for personal info Karl, I was just curious to a total, as that info for 2009 probably won't be available for awhile.I found this looking around the net. Says that NC has the highest rate of reported snakebites. I wouldn't have guessed that. But the most fatalities went to Texas, Florida, and Georgia. The complete article can be found here. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/168828-overview
Frequency
United States
Snakebites frequently go unreported. Approximately 4000-7000 bites are reported to national centers each year. North Carolina has the highest frequency, with 19 bites per 100,000 persons. The national average is approximately 4 bites per 100,000 persons.
International
Generally, only localized reporting of international data are available. Most snakebites and deaths due to snakebites are not reported, especially in the developing world.
Mortality/Morbidity
A 20-year review of data from the National Vital Statistics Systems identified 97 fatalities. The state of Texas had the most fatalities (17), followed by Florida (14), and Georgia (12).
* Deaths secondary to snakebites are rare. With the proper use of antivenin, they are becoming rarer still. The national average has been less than 4 deaths per year for the last several years.
* A review of morbidity associated with snakebites from Kentucky was published. Most bites were from copperheads and resulted in 8 days of pain, 11 days of extremity edema, and 14 days of missed work.1 A review specifically of copperhead bites in West Virginia described similar outcomes and noted that the peak effects of envenomation were not present until longer than 4 hours after the bite.2
* Local tissue destruction rarely contributes to long-term morbidity. Occasionally, skin grafting is required to close a defect from fasciotomy, but wounds requiring fasciotomy to reduce compartment pressures from muscle edema are infrequent.
* Data gathered in a 5-year retrospective chart review from the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville (UTMCK), a level-I trauma center, focused on 25 bites. Of these, 4 required fasciotomy and 2 subsequently needed split-thickness skin grafting. The average length of stay was 3.2 days. No deaths occurred, and morbidity was limited to the local wounds.
Race
White males account for 76% of the victims.
Sex
* National studies report a 9:1 male-to-female ratio.
* UTMCK studies report a 2.1:1 male-to-female ratio.
Age
* National studies report 50% of patients were aged 18-28 years. UTMCK studies report 25% were aged 18-28 years, with a mean of 29.5 years.
* National studies report 95% of bites were located on an extremity, especially the hand. UTMCK studies report 96% of bites were located on an extremity, 56% to the hand.
* National studies report a seasonal occurrence of 90% from April to October. UTMCK studies report 100% occurrence from April to October (May: 1 bite out of 25 cases; June to August: 19 bites out of 25 cases; and September to October: 5 bites out of 25 cases).
* In the pediatric population, most snakebites occurred in school-aged children and adolescents around the perimeter of the home during the afternoon in summer months. The most frequent wound sites were the lower limbs.3
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RE: Venomous Bites this year
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by Cro on February 3, 2010
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Those are some interesting statistics Marty.
I wonder how many of the venomous bites in North Carolina are associated with the snake handling churches that are found in that state ?
Would be willing to bet quite a few of them are.
Best Regards
John Z
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RE: Venomous Bites this year
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by tj on February 3, 2010
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You bring up another question, John. I wonder how many of the church related bites are even reported or if medical attention is even sought. Almost like dry bites...yes, they are dry, but they are still bites....just because someone got lucky doesn't mean they didn't get bit. And, there are a few dip$h!ts that seem to get dry bitten several times a year...and oddly enough, are also the same people who have been envenomated one or more times. Go figure...
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RE: Venomous Bites this year
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by FlaSnakeHunter on February 3, 2010
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Karl,
I think that most, if not all, of us recognize that you cannot, and should not, reveal anything about any bite, unless given explicit permission from the bitee. Also, I believe that most, if not all, of us applaud you for the integrity displayed by your vehement maintenance of confidentiality...to me personally, that tells me volumes about your character.
However, this is perhaps one of the more interesting threads to appear here in quite a while in terms of the potential for the disbursement of relatively hard-to-find information.
Marty
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RE: Venomous Bites this year
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by FlaSnakeHunter on February 3, 2010
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John,
Thank you for the recent addition of several sites, particularly the Aspidelaps site...great idea !! I am a member and will be looking forward to any and all bite info that you post.
Marty
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