Four children, granny in hospital as snakes attack Baringo villages

Four children and an elderly woman have been admitted in Kabarnet County Referral Hospital after they were bitten by poisonous snakes.

The woman and the four children; two from Tiaty Constituency and the others from Radat and Endao in Baringo South, are receiving treatment after they were rushed to the facility with wounds inflicted by the venomous reptiles that are now crawling into homes at night, especially during the dry season in search of food and water.

A resident, Samuel Kiptoo, said his daughter was asleep when a venomous snake crept into her bed and bit her leg, adding that they did not realize what had happened until the following morning when they saw her swollen leg.

Kiptoo immediately took her to Marigat Health Center where she was admitted for a week before she was referred to the Referral Hospital and had her wound grafted.

According to Dr Kays Muruka, the medical superintendent in the hospital, some patients take the initiative of killing the snake and coming with it to  the hospital, which enables the doctor to quickly identify the kind of snake anti-venom to be used hence saving lives

Muruka, however, decried the manner in which the residents administer first aid by tying the upper part of the bitten limp to prevent the snake venom from rising, which is detrimental as locals tie it tightly disabling the inflow of fresh blood to the arm or leg.

This, he said, ends up forming gangrene in the affected area which normally calls for the amputation or removal of the affected flesh if treatment is not sought early.