30 DAYS IN HOSPITAL AFTER SNAKEBITE

MANZINI – “I had no idea a snake can cause such damage”. This was a statement made by *Muzi after spending 30 days in hospital after he was bitten by a Mozambican spitting cobra.
The Mozambican spitting cobra is most common in the kingdom with many of the victims left with scars after being bittten.

This is because its venom is cytotoxic, meaning it damages cell tissue.
In some cases, a bite from the snake can result in one losing a limb or even death.

For Muzi, thanks to the efforts by medical personnel at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) hospital and the Eswatini Antivenom Foundation ,as he is now recovering at home. 
He was bitten on November 8, 2019 and only left the hospital last Friday.
Muzi, who asked not to mention his full particulars, said he was bitten while sleeping inside a house.

Entered

He said he was not sure how the snake entered the house but added that it was possible that maybe it had been there for days or even weeks.
Muzi said on the night he was bitten, he had been sleeping and because it was hot, he had not covered himself.
He said as he slept, he felt a sharp pain in his hand, which jolted him from his sleep. “I then moved my hand and felt something like a belt,” he said.
Little did he know that it was in fact a snake that had just bitten him.

Muzi said he then switched on the lights and realised that he was bleeding from the snakebite.
He then said he was rushed to the hospital within 20 minutes.
Since he was in Manzini at the time, he was rushed to the RFM Hospital.
Muzi said he was shocked that within the same night, the hand became swollen while he was at the hospital.
He said antivenom was administered to him but despite this, the situation continued to worsen.

His skin appeared as if it was rotting due to the effect of the snakebite.
Though he was bitten in the hand, the effect spread through the arm leaving the tissues severely damaged.
While at the hospital, Muzi said he underwent three operations.

The first two operations were for the purpose of removing pus from the hand while on the third, skin grafting was used to restore his skin.
Muzi commended the assistance he received from medical staff at the RFM hospital.
He said the medical personnel were extra careful and friendly, adding that it was this that also helped him recover quicker than normal.
Muzi also noted that the Eswatini Antivenom Foundation assisted him and that they worked hand in hand with the doctors.

Effort

He commended the effort by the Eswatini Antivenom Foundation to assist with antivenom.
“I wish it would be possible for more antivenom to be available in all the health facilities countrywide,” said Muzi.
He also recommended that more education should be done to educate people about snakes because some were not aware that a snake can get onto your bed and bite you.

Thea Litscha-Koen of the Eswatini Antivenom Foundation said she was aware about Muzi’s case.
Speaking about the Mozambican spitting cobra, Thea said this was a type of snake that could bite just for the sake of it.  She said the snake could also get onto a bed and one way to protect yourself was to use mosquito nets as this prevented the snake from getting onto the bed.

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