Maharashtra doctor couple on mission to prevent snakebite deaths, bust myths

Renuka Dengle, from a small village in Pune, was five months pregnant when the venomous 'Saw-scaled Viper' snake bit her while she was working at a farm a couple of years ago. The 24-year-old woman's relatives took her to a local exorcist and a couple of government hospitals in the vicinity but she could not get proper treatment.

As Dengle's condition worsened, she was rushed to Vighnahar Nursing Clinic in Pune's Narayangaon town. The medical facility is run by a doctor couple who claim to have so far saved more than 5,500 snakebite victims. A lot of time was already wasted by the time the woman was brought to the hospital. She was in a bad condition with swelling all over her body, Dr Sadanand Raut, who and his wife are working on a 'zero snakebite death' mission, told PTI.

"We immediately administered her an anti-snake venom and started the treatment. The woman responded and made a miraculous recovery. A few months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl," he said. Terming snakebite as a rural hazard, Dr Raut said the World Health Organization (WHO) described it as the 'most neglected tropical disease in 2018' and their aim is to bring down snakebite deaths by 50 per cent by 2030.

"With 58,000 snakebite deaths in India every year, the country is leading in such casualties," said Dr Raut, who is also a member of the WHO's roster of experts for snakebite envenoming. The doctor said he had come to Narayangaon to set up a heart and diabetes hospital, but got anxious after coming across the death of a girl by snakebite. "My wife and I then decided to work towards the issue of snakebite, an everyday reality for those who living in rural parts of the country," he said.

As the topic was not taught at length during the medical course, they started researching and took the help of experts like noted tropical medicine expert Dr David Warrell and started treating people from rural parts of Junnar tehsil in Pune, he said. The initial challenge was to discourage people from visiting exorcists and faith healers as a lot of myths and misconceptions were attached to snakebites.

"While making our hospital equipped with facilities like ventilators, defibrillators, anti-snake venom doses and trained staff to treat patients, we stressed on busting myths and discouraged superstitious methods used in treating snakebites in rural areas," he said.

"Today, no one from the region goes to a faith healer. Whenever a person suffers a snakebite, he/she is either taken to the district hospital or brought to our facility," Dr Raut said. He said they have been creating awareness among people that prevention is the key to avoiding snakebite incidents. "We ask people to wear gumboots and gloves while working, avoid sleeping on the floor and use beds with nets," he said.

Doctors at primary health centres, sub-divisional hospitals, and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) are being trained to tackle snakebite cases, how to diagnose the type of snakebite and how to use the anti-snake venom dose, he said. The anti-snake venom is a life-saving drug and it should be used in a proper dose and at proper time, he said. "Deaths due to snakebite can be prevented if a patient is brought to a nearest health facility for anti-snake venom administration. It is crucial to administer the dose within the golden hour period," he said.

Dr Raut said they are currently conducting a pan-India project with the Indian Council of Medical Research to study incidences, mortality and the effects of snakebite and 13 states are participating in it. He said they want to start a dedicated advanced snake bite management training and research centre in Narayangaon to further achieve the 'zero snakebite death' objective.

Bhanudas Kakade (28), who was a few years back bitten by a Russel Viper, the most venomous snake in Asia, considers himself fortunate after being given a new lease of life by the doctor couple. Kakade was brought to the hospital after four hours of snakebite. His condition was worsening with weak pulse, falling blood pressure, and vomiting and loose-motions were making things critical. "For 20 days, he battled with his organs failing. We had seen such criticality before. We started the anti-snake venom treatment after which he recovered," Dr Raut said. He was given dialysis 16 times and multiple rounds of blood transfusion, said Dr Raut. "Had Dr Raut not been there, I would not have survived," Kakade said.

Dengle said after recovering from the snakebite, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl and named her 'Pranali' which means 'Pran' (life) 'aali' (return). Dr Mahesh Gude, who was earlier medical officer at Manchar's government-run Sub Divisional Hospital, said since there were a large number of snakebite cases, Dr Raut and his staff imparted training to doctors at the SDH and helped them handle such cases. "With his guidance, we could save a lot of snakebite patients at our facility," Dr Gude said.

Dr Manohar Bansode, medical superintendent at a government hospital in Thane district, said their region comprises a vast tribal area and 500 to 600 snakebite cases are reported every year. "We called Dr Raut to train our doctors in tackling the snakebite cases. Our doctors now confidently handle such cases," he said.