How adept are you at handling snakebite cases? Take the quiz below, from Dr. H Bawaskar, an expert in snakebite management, to test your understanding of the key concepts in treatment.

The rules are simple! Read the question carefully and try to guess the correct answer. Read every answer option prior to choosing a final answer.

Try testing yourself before you read the article to assess your strengths and weaknesses regarding the topic. Explanation for each correct answer has been mentioned.

You can test yourself again once you have read the entire article to see how well you have understood the topic.

Question 1: Bleeding disorders following bite are caused by all of the following snakes except...

1. Echis carinatus or saw scaled viper or carpet viper
2. Krait
3. Russell’s viper

Question 2: Respiratory paralysis is common following which snake bite?

1. Echis carinatus
2. Elapid
3. Russell’s viper

Question 3: Local oedema with fangs marks present in the following snakebites except...

1. Cobra
2. Echis carinatus
3. Russell’s viper
4. Krait

Answers and explanation

Q1. Correct answer: (b) Krait

Viper venom is known to interfere with blood clotting mechanism. Viper venom contains substances such as serine proteases, metalloproteinases, C- type lectins, disintegrins and phospholipases and hence shows both anti-coagulant and coagulant effects on blood clotting mechanism. These effects result in defibrination syndrome or disseminated intravascular fibrin-coagulopathy. Acute bleeding is the result of hypofibrinogenaemia, which occurs due to massive consumption of fibrinogen and fibrinolysis of blood clots.

You can check the full article on Krait bite and poisoning by clicking here.

Q2. Correct answer: (b) Elapid

Cobra and krait venom result in descending neuroparalysis and respiratory depression. Respiratory depression may cause death due to hypoxia. This action is attributed to its tendency to block the post-synaptic and pre-synaptic acetylcholine neuromuscular receptor respectively. The blocked receptors cannot be reversed by antivenom and require ventilation support.

You can check the full article on Elapid bite and poisoning by clicking here.

Q3. Correct answer: (d) Krait

1. After a cobra bite, the victim experiences severe pain with fang marks (covered with blood clots) at the bite site. A rapid progression of swelling from the bitten part to the rest of the limb is also observed.
2. Russell’s viper has long sharp curved fangs and injects 75% of stored venom in just one bite.
3. Echis Carinatus bite results in swelling over the bitten part within one hour. Fang marks or abrasions with clotted blood are observed and swelling may progress to more than one segment.
4. Krait fangs are small in size (like a 24-size needle). It injects the venom deep into the skin; however, Krait bite may not develop local fang marks.

You can check the full article on Krait bite and poisoning by clicking here.

Disclaimer- The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of M3 India.

The writer, Dr. Himmatrao Bawaskar is a renowned Indian physician with publications in The Lancet. He has done extensive research in scorpion sting- diagnosis and treatment protocol.

The author did not accept any payment for the article.