A Keelung resident almost died from acute respiratory failure after being bitten by a poisonous snake that fell on his head from the ceiling of his home, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported on Monday.
The 65-year-old man, surnamed Chang (張) and identified as a resident of a mountainside home in Nuannuan District (暖暖), was quoted as saying that he woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and that when he opened the door, a brown-spotted pit viper dropped and bit him on the head.
Chang first received treatment at a local hospital, which gave him two anti-venom shots, but after the swelling on his head and face worsened, he was transfered to Taipei Veterans General Hospital, the newspaper said.
In Taipei, Chang was given seven more anti-venom shots, Taipei Veterans General Hospital chief traumatologist Chen Yen-chia (陳燕嘉) was quoted as saying.
Due to the location of the bite, the venom caused inflammation to Chang’s mouth, throat and upper respiratory tract, which triggered acute respiratory failure, despite the anti-venom, Chen said.
Doctors intubated Chang and transferred him to an intensive care unit, where his condition stabilized after three days, Chen said, adding that he was discharged on the fifth day.
“This hospital has 20 years of experience treating all kinds of venomous snake bites, but only three cases involved snake bites on the head,” Chen said. “All three of those bites were inflicted by the brown-spotted pit viper.”
Acute respiratory failure from swelling caused by a snake bite is virtually unheard of, Chen said, adding that Chang might be the first Taiwanese to ever have the condition due to those circumstances.
An average of about 1,100 people in Taiwan are bitten by poisonous snakes each year, with 99 percent of the bites on the extremities, he said, citing the Centers for Disease Control.
It is rare for snakes bearing blood-affecting venom to bite a human’s head or neck, Chen said, adding that the rate of such occurrences is less than 2 percent in the US and less than 0.5 percent in Brazil.
The hospital is currently treating another patient, a farm worker surnamed Chu (朱), who was bitten on the head by a brown-spotted pit viper that fell from a banana tree at a farm in Hsinchu County’s Wufeng Township (五峰), he said.
Poisonous snakes are active in Taiwan from February to November, Chen said, adding that if bitten by one, people should photograph the snake or take its dead body to the hospital for faster identification and treatment.
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