Jonno from ERD
Very Well-Known Member
G'day guys,
We attended a toxinology conference hosted by the AVRU today. I thought some people might be interested in some factual information regarding snakebite in Australia from a clinical perspective. All information is from 1979 - 1998. When compared together, some of the statistics don't correlate...I am guessing this is due to the specific data for that statistic wasn't able to be used so was left out.
Number of snakebite fatalities - 53 (average 2.65 per year)
Number of snakebite fatalities by state/territory -
NSW - 13 (25%)
Victoria - 7 (13%)
QLD - 21 (40%)
SA - 2 (4%)
WA - 7 (13%)
Tas - 1 (2%)
NT - 1 (2%)
ACT - 1 (2%)
Percentage of fatalities that are male - 77% women - 23%
Number of snakebite fatalities by venom immunotype (basically the monovalent antivenom that they test positive for...normally to a generic level for most immunotypes) -
Death Adder - 4 (8%)
Brown - 30 (59%)
Tiger - 14 (27%)
Taipan - 3 (6%)
Black - 0 (0%)
I found it surprising that there were no deaths from Pseuechis in 20 years. It is common knowledge that Red Bellies haven't contributed to a fatality in at least 50 years, if ever at all...but I would have assumed at least a single death from Mulga's.
Of the four Death Adder immunotype fatalities, two were in North West WA, one was deep within Arnhem Land in the NT, and one was near Sydney.
Of the three Taipan immunotype fatalities, one was on the central coast of QLD, one was in Weipa in FNQ and the other was on the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast death is highly debated and is believed by some to have been a false positive VDK reading, resulting in incorrect antivenom therapy. I haven't read a case study and don't know the history of this bite, outside of rumours though.
The 14 Tiger immunotype fatalities are almost solely confined to the South East corner of Australia, from SEQ to Melbourne. Most of these fatalities, especially the southern examples, would be from Tiger Snakes, however some of the northern ones, especially those in QLD would be attributed to Rough Scale Snakes - one of several highly venomous Australian elapids that test positive for Tiger Snake antivenom.
The 30 odd Brown Snake based fatalities are mainly confined to coastal QLD and all of NSW. Only two fatalities are registed in Victoria, one in SA and six in WA. Strangely enough, there are no deaths in the NT from Pseudonaja in this period. I do know there was a death a few years ago from a Western Brown bite in Alice Springs.
As expected, there is some consistent information about the reasons behind these fatalities. The vast majority of fatalities share these points in common -
- Drunk
- Ignored the bite
- Incorrect snake ID (thought snake that bit them was harmless)
- Pressure Immobilisation Bandage not applied
- Children unattended
After having a chat with the organiser of the conference about the circumstances resulting in these bites, he made a very good point that the patients pride would no doubt get in the way of them divulging any potentially embarrasing information with regards to what they were doing when they were bitten. He did concur though that most bites, in his opinion, are from intentional interference with the snake.
Hope you guys found this as interesting as I did. This is only the basics of the conference, it was far more in depth.
We attended a toxinology conference hosted by the AVRU today. I thought some people might be interested in some factual information regarding snakebite in Australia from a clinical perspective. All information is from 1979 - 1998. When compared together, some of the statistics don't correlate...I am guessing this is due to the specific data for that statistic wasn't able to be used so was left out.
Number of snakebite fatalities - 53 (average 2.65 per year)
Number of snakebite fatalities by state/territory -
NSW - 13 (25%)
Victoria - 7 (13%)
QLD - 21 (40%)
SA - 2 (4%)
WA - 7 (13%)
Tas - 1 (2%)
NT - 1 (2%)
ACT - 1 (2%)
Percentage of fatalities that are male - 77% women - 23%
Number of snakebite fatalities by venom immunotype (basically the monovalent antivenom that they test positive for...normally to a generic level for most immunotypes) -
Death Adder - 4 (8%)
Brown - 30 (59%)
Tiger - 14 (27%)
Taipan - 3 (6%)
Black - 0 (0%)
I found it surprising that there were no deaths from Pseuechis in 20 years. It is common knowledge that Red Bellies haven't contributed to a fatality in at least 50 years, if ever at all...but I would have assumed at least a single death from Mulga's.
Of the four Death Adder immunotype fatalities, two were in North West WA, one was deep within Arnhem Land in the NT, and one was near Sydney.
Of the three Taipan immunotype fatalities, one was on the central coast of QLD, one was in Weipa in FNQ and the other was on the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast death is highly debated and is believed by some to have been a false positive VDK reading, resulting in incorrect antivenom therapy. I haven't read a case study and don't know the history of this bite, outside of rumours though.
The 14 Tiger immunotype fatalities are almost solely confined to the South East corner of Australia, from SEQ to Melbourne. Most of these fatalities, especially the southern examples, would be from Tiger Snakes, however some of the northern ones, especially those in QLD would be attributed to Rough Scale Snakes - one of several highly venomous Australian elapids that test positive for Tiger Snake antivenom.
The 30 odd Brown Snake based fatalities are mainly confined to coastal QLD and all of NSW. Only two fatalities are registed in Victoria, one in SA and six in WA. Strangely enough, there are no deaths in the NT from Pseudonaja in this period. I do know there was a death a few years ago from a Western Brown bite in Alice Springs.
As expected, there is some consistent information about the reasons behind these fatalities. The vast majority of fatalities share these points in common -
- Drunk
- Ignored the bite
- Incorrect snake ID (thought snake that bit them was harmless)
- Pressure Immobilisation Bandage not applied
- Children unattended
After having a chat with the organiser of the conference about the circumstances resulting in these bites, he made a very good point that the patients pride would no doubt get in the way of them divulging any potentially embarrasing information with regards to what they were doing when they were bitten. He did concur though that most bites, in his opinion, are from intentional interference with the snake.
Hope you guys found this as interesting as I did. This is only the basics of the conference, it was far more in depth.
