Simple steps can cut snakebite deaths
Scientists have called for simple, effective steps to cut the number of people bitten by venomous snakes.
Jan 24, 2024
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Scientists have called for simple, effective steps to cut the number of people bitten by venomous snakes.
Jan 24, 2024
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Halfway through a true crime podcast, a morning commuter jerks the wheel to narrowly avoid a collision. When discussing the podcast with a coworker later that day, the driver can easily recall the details of the episode's ...
Jan 18, 2024
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Making antivenom more widely available across a network of hospitals and community health centers in Brazil's Amazon region would significantly reduce death and disability from venomous snakebites, a new study has found.
Jan 3, 2024
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New drug combinations could protect snakebite victims from the devastating, life-changing injuries caused by toxic venom, suggests research led by Lancaster University.
Dec 14, 2023
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You might have noticed many skin and haircare products are advertised as "paraben-free", or come across online influencers warning parabens are terrible for your health.
Mar 28, 2023
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One of the most dreaded effects of the bite of the brown recluse spider (Loxosceles spp) is the appearance of a necrotic skin lesion, but a clinical study by Brazilian researchers recently reported in PLOS Neglected Tropical ...
Jan 11, 2023
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Every year between 20,000 and 32,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa die after being bitten by snakes. That's more than five times the number of deaths caused by hippos, crocodiles, elephants, lions and buffalo combined.
Oct 13, 2022
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Snake, dog and cat bites were responsible for the majority of hospitalizations for animal bites in tropical Queensland, according to a new study conducted by Cairns Hospital and the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney. But whether ...
Mar 18, 2022
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Having received more than 85 calls this year about snakebites, the Blue Ridge Poison Center at UVA Health is sharing tips on how to avoid snakebites and what to do—and not do—if you get bitten.
Aug 17, 2021
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Over 3,500 Australians were hospitalized due to contact with a venomous animal or plant in 2017–18, according to a new report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Mar 2, 2021
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Snakes are elongate legless carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Like lizards, from which they evolved, they have loosely articulated skulls and most can swallow prey much larger than their own head. In order to accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca.
Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica. Fifteen families are currently recognized comprising 456 genera and over 2,900 species. They range in size from the tiny, 10 cm long thread snake to pythons and anacondas of up to 7.6 m (25 ft) in length. The recently discovered fossil Titanoboa was 13 m or 43 ft long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards during the Cretaceous period (c 150 Ma). The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene period (c 66 to 56 Ma).
Most species are non-venomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA