Anti-snake venom dosage administered to snake bite victims at the National Poisoning Control Center (NPCC) in Karachi, Pakistan.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the minimum and maximum doses of ASV provided in various cases of snake bites based on the severity of the bite and the amount of time passed between bite and hospital presentation.
Methodology: Data from 99 snakebite cases between September and December 2023 were examined retrospectively at the National Poison Control Center (NPCC), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi, focusing on ASV dosage, severity categorization (mild, moderate, severe, and very severe), and time intervals from bite to ASV admin-istration (ranging from very early to extremely late).
Results: The study found a statistically significant relationship between the severity of envenomation and the ASV dos-age used, with a moderate to strong level of connection. Mild cases often required lower ASV dosages (50-150ml), but severe cases required highly varied and occasionally extensive dosing of up to 1500ml. Early presenters often got mod-erate ASV doses (150ml), whereas very late presenters (>72 hours) frequently required greater dosages.
Conclusion: This work adds to the empirical evidence for severity-based ASV dosing techniques and suggests combin-ing real-time data monitoring with the update of worldwide standards to meet the local epidemiological and health-care setting.
Key words: Anti Snake Venom (ASV), Envenomation, Retrospective Study, Public Health