COURSE INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this Short Course on the prevention and clinical management of snakebites. This course seeks to improve your knowledge on the prevention of snakebites through education, behavioral change and environmental improvement. It has been demonstrated that public education essential in raising awareness and knowledge on prevention of snakebites. This evidence combined with availability of safer efficacious anti-venom including better access will result in better health outcomes for snakebite victims. We will start this course by brief introduction on snakes followed by their morphology and distribution. Thereafter, look at prevention of snakebites and finally stages of management of snakebites. This short course will comprise of seven (7) Sections, namely:

Section 1: Morphology and Distribution of Venomous Snakes in Kenya

Section 2: Prevention of Snakebites

Section 3: The Stages of Management of Snakebites in Kenya

Section 4: Management of Snakebite at Different Levels of Care

Section 5: Clinical Assessment

Section 6: Syndrome management of snake bites

Section 7: Ancillary treatment

 

Well then! Let us now proceed to the first section of the course as we endeavor to learn more about and demystify this for long feared animal.