CASE REPORT article
Front. Trop. Dis.
Sec. Neglected Tropical Diseases
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fitd.2025.1644239
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Knowledge and Treatment of Snakebite EnvenomingView all articles
Death to Bite: A case report of Dead Snake Envenoming and Treatment
Provisionally accepted
- 1Namrup College, Dibrugarh, India
- 2Demow Rural Community Health Centre, Sivasagar, Assam, India
- 3Boko Rural Community Health Centre, Kamrup Rural, Assam, India
- 4Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
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Background: Envenoming by venomous snakes may induce serious pathophysiological manifestations and death in victims if timely treatment is not provided. Such abilities of snakes remain intact even after death and decapitation. In this article, three cases of envenoming caused by dead snakes that required antivenom therapy are presented from Assam, India. Case description: Two incidents of envenoming by heads from decapitated Naja kaouthia were referred to the Demow Rural Community Health Centre, Sivasagar, Assam. Victims were clinically examined and necessary antivenom was administered. Another case of envenoming by a dead black krait was referred to the Boko 30-bed Community Health Centre/First Referral Unit, Kamrup, Assam. The victim exhibited neurotoxic symptoms and required ventilatory support. Antivenom was immediately administered, along with doses of neostigmine, glycopyrrolate, and calcium gluconate. The victim recovered and was discharged after 43 hours of hospitalization. Conclusion: These instances of envenoming by dead or decapitated snakes highlight the potential danger posed by venomous snakes even after death, emphasizing the necessity of extreme caution while handling them.
Keywords: case report, dead snake, Envenoming, Naja kaouthia, Krait
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Thakur, Giri, Choudhary, Nath and Doley. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Robin Doley, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India
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