Snakebite victims narrate how local treatment centres worsened their condition
Chima Azubuike, writes about how some traditional homes are worsening snakebite treatments, with increasing casualties caused mostly by carpet viper, amid other challenges.
Surviving the pains of snakebite can be excruciating but what is most unfortunate is how victims suffer double tragedy at traditional healing centres in a bid to get respite.
Felix Eunice, a 25 year-old, farmer from Tungo Local Government Area of Adamawa state, was not bitten in the farm but at home. She explained how horn was inserted into various parts of her body in an attempt to drain the poison out.
She revealed that she was taken to two traditional homes where she was administered concortion, aside where she received incisions at many parts of her body.
When our correspondent arrived the Snakebite Treatment and Research Hospital Kaltungo, on a sunny afternoon, after days of attempts at securing approval from the Ministry of Health to allow us get in touch with victims, the Eunice was sighted in a bed on the floor and efforts were on by caregivers to stabilise her as she was seen bleeding from various parts of her body.
Beside her bed was blood stand, as our correspondent gathered that it was part of the resuscitation measures following the blood she lost in one of the places she earlier visited in search of solution.
Narrating he experience Eunice, who could bearly open her mouth said, “The incident occured two days ago. I went to fetch firewood from the backyard and in the process the snake bite me, i was admitted to two separate traditional homes for medication.
“The first place i was given a herbal medicine to drink while the second place some parts of my body was pierced and they used horn to suck blood out using mouth, but there was no improvement that’s why i decided to come here for the treatment. The name of the snake that bite me is carpet viper.”
Eunice, story confirms the research that most snakebites around Gombe and other North-East states are caused by carpet viper also known as kububuwa in Hausa, from Kingdom of animalia, species of Echis pyramidum. Viper bite starts to break down tissue and blood vessels, that can lead to fluid buildup, bleeding inside the victim’s body, and may lead to serious problems like kidney failure.
Eunice, whose husband Felix is working assiduously to see that she recuperates, he explained to our correspondent how stressful it was to move from one traditional healing centres to another, adding that they have worsened the medical condition of his wife.
According to Felix, the first healer collected N2,000 but didn’t do much until they moved his wife Eunice to another place where she received countless piercings in an attempt to drain the venom from her system.
Felix said, “She is my wife, we came from Adamawa state and also i work there, i was about taking her to Katsinala (Benue state) for the treatment luckily i met a driver that told me there’s a hospital in Gombe that specialises in snake bites treatment.”
He wondered why the traditional homes with little or no knowledge on snakebite treatment were allowed to operate thereby inflicting more pains on patients.
“Before i brought my wife here i took her to a herbalist for treatment, he asked me to give him any amount for the treatment and i gave him N2000 then i met another traditional healer they pierced some part of her body and also he uses horn to draw blood out were the snakebite is. I came here because where i stay is closer to Gombe State,” Felix said.
Tales of trial and error
68 year-old, Safiya Danmalam, from Tula Kaltungo Local Government Area, who is a farmer was not spared by the carpet viper. She explained how she was bitten when she went to church to participate in sanitation of the church’s surrounding.
According to her, it occured when she attempted to use her hands to pack fallen leaves, without knowing that the the viper was hidden there.
Danmalam said, “I am a farmer, the incident took place on Saturday evening, i went to church to sweep the church premises, in the process i saw where leaves were gathered. So, i decided to use my hands to pack it, that was when a snake bite me, i quickly went to a herbalist but he was unable to provide medication for me.”
Danmalam confirmed that she was bitten by carpet viper, explaining that she decided to come to the treatment centre after it became obvious that she wasn’t getting any better.
“I saw the snake and the name of the snake is kububuwa in hausa also known as carpet viper. I decided to come to here for the treatment. The treatments that was given to me is free of charge i didn’t pay any money for it,” She added.
Our correspondent reports that no fewer than 2,000 vials of anti snake venom was supplied by the North East Development Commission (NEDC), to the facility since February. With over 365 patients said to have been treated so far and 2,811 cases treated in 2021 with about six death cases in March 2022 with 44 as total mortality in 2021.
Records made available to our correspondent shows that over 299 free vials have been administered on patients courtesy NEDC. However, once the 2,000 distributed by the commission is exhausted patients would be left to bear the exorbitant cost of procuring Echitab for treating snakebite from about N30,000 in 2019 to N44,000, a situation experts blamed on increasing exchange rate.
In 2019, the Federal Ministry of Health says it was working to facilitate local production of snake antivenom in Nigeria through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Initiative to make the product available, accessible, and affordable to Nigerians. The country still grapples with importation of vials for the treatment as the cost of treatment have made patients to consider alternative treatments pushing some to visit herbalists which is considered cheaper.
Abdullahi Haruna, a 25 year-old, he herder from kwaya kusar Local Government Area of Borno state said he was bitten at home while trying to pick his cap.
He said before been he was brought to the centre he had been administered herbs by a herbalist, revealing that the venom was said to be moving faster than normal following his earlier method.
He said, “The incident occured in my room. I went to my room to look for my cap, i decided to rearrange a bag of groundnuts that was when i grabbed a snake unknowingly so the snake bite me.
“Some of my relatives suggested traditional medication for me, which i did and i spent N1,000 but unfortunately there was no positive result, so we decided to come here for the treatment.”
Usman Musa, said he was unable to visit the hospital the day he was bitten, adding that he was considering the best option to get resuscitation.
The 26 year-old, explained that he has been in the hospital in the past three days since he arrived, adding that he was bitten in the bush when he went to ease himself.
He said, “I came from Pindiga in Garin Galadima, a settlement under Akko Local Government Area of Gombe state. The incident happened four days back in the evening, i was unable to make it to the hospital that same day, it was a day after i came and this is my 3rd day in the hospital.
He confirmed that he was able to kill the carpet viper, stressing that he had learnt his lessons.
“I went to the bush to ease my self and on my way back i got bitten by the snake and immediately i was able to kill the snake, the name of the snake is carpet viper. The hospital gave me free medication for the treatment,” Musa added.
52 year-old Halima Markus, from Karin Lamido Taraba state, said she spent over five hours travelling from her state of residence to Gombe on motorcycle popularly known as ‘achaba’.
The road leading to the hospital Gombe/Adamawa express way is a nightmare to alot of motorists, as some vehicles are either in terrible conditions after embarking on trips to the axis. So, alot of persons are left at the mercy of motorcycle operators.
Markus revealed that motorcycle was the only means of transport she could find to move from her state of residence to where she could get treatment.
Narrating her challenges Markus said, “I’m a farmer, i went to get water from the well on my way back i got bitten by a snake, immediately i went to a near by hospital in Taraba but they told me that they don’t have medication for snake bites, so i decided to travel to gombe state.”
She continued adding, “I spent five hours on the road before i got to the hospital, i used motorcycle to travel from Taraba to Gombe, i was not charged or given any bill to pay for the treatments, so far everything is done free of charge for me in the hospital.”
Seven year-old Cherish Yunana, was not spared by the rampaging carpet viper. The nursery two indigene of Lamurde Local Government Area of Adamawa said he went to give his brother his portion of food.
Yunana, “The incident took place last week Wednesday at home, when i was taking food to my elder brother’s room, at the front of his door there was a snake that was hiding there without me knowng.
“That was how I got bitten, immediately i was brought to the hospital. A test was conducted and the anti venom was given to me free of charge by the hospital.”
11-year old Enoch Emmanuel from Billiri, a pupil of Baganje Primary School, said he went to rear animals in the bush.
Emmanuel said, “ln the process i saw a hole and i started digging it with my hand that was when the snake bite me and i used stone to cover the hole immediately i went to inform elderly people who traced where the hole was and they were able to kill the snake.”
He added that after laboratory test was done, venom was found in his body system, before the hospital offered him free medication.
Way forward
Commenting on the effort of Government, Gombe State Commissioner for Health Habu Dahiru said there is a current partnership with Sustainable Development Goals to improve, upgrade the snakebite treatment centre.
Dahiru said, “The partnership will upgrade the treatment into an institute, start research towards the production of anti snake venom in the institute through the support of SDGs and other partners.”
According to the Principal Medical Officer Dr. Mohammed Suleiman who conducted our correspondent round female, male and children wards in the facility urged victims of snakebite to visit the facility immediately.
Suleiman, who was represented by head of pharmacy unit Pharm. Micah Musa, pointed out that unnecessary delay worsened cases of victims.
He revealed that the facility has current supply which would help victims access almost free medical services pending when it would be exhausted.
Mohammed said, “The free anti snake venom exercise commenced on the 8th of February 2021, through the help of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), in Kaltungo Local Government Area, so far 299 patients have benefitted from the free treatment.
“Patients are advised to report to the hospital on the same day they got bitten by a snake so the venom will not spread in their body system. The longer you stay at home after the bite, the more the venom will affect your system. Do not use traditional medicine or any medicine that is not proven scientifically.”
Speaking further the Principal Medical Officer revealed that most bites were around the leg region, and the palm, stressing that the effects could be reduced if protective equipment were used, harping on the need for clean surrounding.
“Some basic preventive measures include using gloves while digging a hole is very important especially in a snake dominated area, using boots in the bush will help as well, for example the boy that got bitten in the bush had it been he was wearing a hand gloves the venom will not penetrate into his body system.
“Some of our environment is dirty, and snakes feed on flesh, they eat rats for example and rats is often found in our rooms, so if we can keep our environments clean snakes will not find their way to our homes to cause us any harm,” Mohammed advised.
Signs to watch out to remain safe
Mohammed explained that although the major bite results from carpet viper due to the terrain, he mentioned significant sounds to look out for.
He said, “Some snakes like cobra, will give you sound or warning before it bites, and they don’t bite except they are hungry, immediately a sound or warning is given to you, stay away from such place. In the case of carpet vipers is different because the moment there is motion around them they bite instantly, and they are common in our environment, they run away when ever there’s movement around them, but cobras and the rest don’t.
“Not all snakes are poisonous and it cannot be distinguished except you come to the hospital for a test. For most the traditional places they will administer concortion and maybe the person recuperates and they believe that they can cure snakebite.
“Snakes that are not poisonous don’t have fangs while the ones with poison have fangs, poisonous snakebite is also different from non poisonous snakes, the surface of the (victim’s) skin reveal the difference between poisonous and non poisonous snake bites. Not all snake bites are poisonous, but is very important for a patient to report to the hospital after a snake bite.”
Mohammed stated that it would be added advantage if patients identified the type of snake to facilitate speedy medication, warning that killing of snakes would have repercussion on eco-system.
He added, “The number one thing we do in the hospital when a patient is been admitted is to ask for the type of snake or perhaps if the snake was killed we ask for the sample in other to make our work easier. And also we don’t encourage patients to kill snake because it will affect the eco system.
“If one is unable to identity the snake there are clinical symptoms we can use to identify it or the kind of area you live or the state can tell us the type of snake that bite you, we have two types of anti snakebite venom, if we are not sure of the type of snake that bite you we give you the most common snake anti venom before we later figure out everything after the medical tests.”
However, available research explains that monovalent antivenoms have a lower volume of specific antibodies that may reduce reactions but require accurate snake identification to be used. Polyvalent antivenoms are larger volume and may have a higher reaction rate.
Traditional practitioners debunks allegations
Malam Ahmad Auwal Secretary General North-East National Association of Nigeria Traditional Medicine Practitioners has debunked allegations that traditional healing homes worsened the treatment of snakebite.
He disclosed that there are those with herbs capable of healing such bite, adding that there are those without the remedy.
He said, “There are people who claim to have herbs for treatment of snakebite whereas they don’t, and there are those who have the cure. There was a story I saw that bitter kola cures snakebite, but the question is it only bitter kola? There are other things that are used to enhance treatment, Doctors should be asked what was used in the time of old to treat snakebite.”
Commenting on the challenges faced by practitioners he revealed that laboratory equipment is expensive, adding that members should not fail to state their inabilities when necessary.
“Anybody that knows he doesn’t have medicine for curing snakebite should not claim that he has and it should be taken through examination by the approved authorities. For instance, I have discovered Diabetes, High blood pressure, HIV but until now I have not taken it to the public because I want to be sure of my research.
“We usually use Real quantum analyser for analysis and it is should at N275,000 while the big one is 2.5 million naira these are part of the challenges we have because we are working towards standardisation as well as ensuring that our medicine goes with description for use,” Auwal added.
Also speaking, Mohammed Danmaijuju Secretary National Association of Nigeria Traditional Medicine Practitioners Gombe State chapter said his cabinet has commenced efforts at ensuring collaboration with health ministry and other relevant authorities towards ensuring standard.
He called on those practising without joining the group’s umbrella to reconsider.
Danmaijuju said, “We have been treating ailments for a long time and herbal medicine have better potency to modern medicine. I have once asked that we take inventory into how many people died in hospitals and how many people got saved in traditional homes the people will give a better answer.”
He continued adding, “that is the essence of having association, we now collaborate with Specialist Hospital, we are under ministry of health, we attend seminar to share idea. We have been sharing ideas we have precautionary medicine that if I give you and you are bitten nothing will happen to you. We just need government support use with further trainings sponsoring us to places like India, China as well as getting modern ideas.”
