Abstract
Of some 3700 extant species of snake, less than 750 are venomous – most of them not greatly harmful to humans. Yet snakes occupy an outsized niche in human imagination, both in regard to their potential medical impacts and in other cultural roles. In this chapter, we review available information on snakebites and fatalities from around the world, describe current recommended treatment of snakebite, and review the role snakes fulfill in world folklore. Though less common and lethal than often perceived, snakebites affect an estimated five million people each year and cause as many as 125,000 fatalities. Many of the traditional “treatments” have little or no positive impact, but access to the one verified remedy, antivenin, remains particularly limited in some parts of the developing world, where most bites and fatalities occur. Perception of snakes is especially ambivalent in the developed world, perhaps because of Judeo-Christian-Islamic associations, although the Greco-Roman-derived snake-entwined staff also serves as the emblem of medicine and healing.
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We thank H.B. Lillywhite and M. Zuffi for helpful comments on earlier versions of this chapter. ID thanks Universiti Malaysia Sarawak for support.
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Perry, G., Lacy, M., Das, I. (2020). Snakes, Snakebites, and Humans. In: Angelici, F., Rossi, L. (eds) Problematic Wildlife II. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42335-3_18
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