CITATION: Bull World Health Organ. 2024 Apr 1; 102(4): 234–243.
Published online 2024 Jan 31. doi: 10.2471/BLT.23.290169
Knowledge and practices related to snakebite, China: a cross-sectional study
Lanfen He et al.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess knowledge and practices related to snakebite prevention among Chinese residents.
Methods: By using a multistage random sampling approach augmented by snowball sampling, we surveyed residents from 10 provinces...
Findings: We obtained 55 775 valid survey responses... Only 25.7% (14 325) respondents demonstrated adequate knowledge about snakebites whereas 25.6% (14 295) respondents knew basic first-aid practices or preventive behaviours...
Conclusion: There is a notable shortfall in knowledge, first aid and preventive behaviours among Chinese residents regarding snakebites. Misguided first aid practices can severely compromise the effectiveness of evidence-based therapeutic interventions. Consequently, improving health education concerning snakes and snakebites in this population is needed.
COMMENT (NPW): The authors did not provide an estimate of the burden of snakebite in China. The following website ( https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/snake-bite-deaths-by-... ) suggests the death rate per million per year (9) is considerably less than much of South Asia and Africa, but nevertheless substantial given China's large population. This is the latest of many papers shared on HIFA that have identified poor knowledge resulting in inappropriate first aid and avoidable deaths.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
