Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding snakes and snake bite among rural adult of Belagavi, Karnataka

Abstract

Background: India is home to over 270 species of snakes, including 60 venomous. Belagavi, set in foothills of Western Ghats, is home to four major venomous snakes viz. Russell’ s viper, spectacled cobra, common krait and saw scaled viper. Surveys suggest that around half of the snake bite related deaths take place in India and are largely avoidable and treatable. The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding Snakes and Snake bite among adult in a rural area of Belagavi, Karnataka.Methods: This community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 adults who were permanent residents of Kinaye village located in the field practice area of JN Medical College, Belagavi. A predesigned and pretested questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice after taking written informed consent. Results: Most of the study participants when shown different photographs could differentiate between venomous and non-venomous snakes and their bite marks. 100% of the study participants knew that medical treatment was available for snakebite and would rush to a health facility in an event of snakebite. Most common venomous Snake to be identified was Spectacled Cobra (72%) while Common Krait was the least identified (24%). About 75% of study subjects correctly differentiated between the pictures of venomous and non-venomous Snake bite marks. Nearly 90.5% believed that Snakes bite for self-defence. Conclusions: In the present study majority of the participants had basic knowledge about Snake identification and snakebite. Most correctly identified venomous and non-venomous Snakes was Spectacled Cobra and Green Vine Snake respectively, while most incorrectly identified venomous Snake was common Krait. All the participants knew that there is medical treatment available for snakebite and most of them were in favour of not killing Snakes.