Title: 22 People in Hangzhou Were Bitten by Snakes the Day Before Yesterday, and the Serum at the Municipal TCM Hospital Was Used Up Again
Why are there so many snakebite cases this year?
Doctors and zoo employees have mentioned the same reason: the urbanization process is bringing people and snakes closer together.
By correspondent Youjia Xu and reporter Lina He
"I was bitten by a snake, doctor, please give me a shot." In the early hours of yesterday morning, Mr. Hu from Cixi rushed to Hangzhou's TCM Hospital. From Cixi to Yuyao, Ningbo, and finally Hangzhou, just to get an injection of antivenom serum, he spent over 1000 yuan on taxi fares alone.
At 8 o'clock one case, then another at 9:10... The hospital treated 14 snakebite patients in just one evening. The new batch of antivenom serum that arrived in August, all 400 vials, were used up in less than a month. The manufacturer said the next batch would be ready by early October.
The serum supply is once again running low.
Since the weather became hot this year, the hospital has issued multiple warnings about the shortage of serum. Why are there so many snakebite patients in Hangzhou? Is it because there are more snakes in Hangzhou now? Yesterday, our reporter sought answers from various sources.
Bitten on the Buttocks While Using the Toilet at Midnight
"My buttock is swollen like a bun, what should I do?" Last night, Ms. Yu from Xiaoshan entered the emergency room of the TCM hospital with her left buttock covered by her hand. At that time, the emergency room was filled with snakebite patients in both the treatment rooms and the hallways.
When recounting how she was bitten, Ms. Yu appeared somewhat embarrassed. She woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, blindly walking into the bathroom in the dark. As soon as she sat down, she felt something bite her on the left side. When she stood up, she realized it was a snake.
Overwhelmed with tension, Ms. Yu started violently shaking her body, but the snake wouldn't let go. Finally, she had to endure her fear and swat the snake off her buttock before rushing to the hospital.
"She first went to a local hospital in Xiaoshan. Upon hearing it was a snakebite, they didn't even examine her and told her they had no serum, advising her to go to Hangzhou. After arriving in Hangzhou, she first went to a provincial-level hospital, where they also had no serum. The on-duty doctor then suggested she go to the Hangzhou TCM Hospital," said Dr. Jianfeng Zhu, who was on duty at the TCM hospital last night.
However, the doctors eventually discovered that Ms. Yu had been bitten by a non-venomous rat snake.
Since the weather turned hot, the dermatology department of the TCM hospital receives many snakebite patients every day. The entire emergency room sees other doctors having no patients throughout the night, while the dermatology patients often have to wait in line. Dr. Zhu said that last night, starting from 10 PM, the queue continued until dawn without end.
In fact, for cases like Ms. Yu's, which involve bites from non-venomous snakes, simply disinfecting the wound and taking some antibiotics would suffice, without needing such a large-scale response.
How can ordinary people determine whether the snake is venomous or non-venomous? Dr. Zhu taught everyone a simple method: judge based on the snake's tooth marks. If the tooth marks form two symmetrical points, it indicates a venomous snake; if the tooth marks form two symmetrical rows, it is a non-venomous snake, requiring only basic wound inflammation treatment.
Snakebite Patients Are Three Times More Than Four Years Ago
"Previously, there might be about ten cases on a busy day, but last night we received 14 cases. Including those during the day, we treated a total of 22 snakebite patients yesterday," said Director Chengjun Tao of the Dermatology Department at the TCM hospital. All the doctors in the department were exhausted.
Speaking about the number of snakebite patients, the reporter conducted a statistical analysis of the snakebite cases treated at the TCM hospital over the past four years. There were 267 cases in 2007, 473 in 2008, and 580 in 2009, increasing rapidly each year. By September 14 of this year, the number had reached 812, more than three times the number in 2007.
Where do these snakebite patients come from?
Director Chengjun Tao, drawing from his years of experience, said, "Most snakebite patients come from suburban areas. This year, with the acceleration of urbanization, many houses have been built on what used to be green spaces and forests. However, snakes still consider their original habitats as home and frequently appear in these areas. As a result, the chances of human-snake contact increase, leading to a higher probability of being bitten."
A small portion of snakebite patients are from Hangzhou's urban core area. Director Tao explained, "Snakes in the city are mostly non-venomous. Most originate from restaurants' cages or pet snakes that escape from citizens' homes."
Snakes Like to Enter Homes Through Drainage Pipes
Why are there more snakebite patients in Hangzhou? Is it because there are more snakes this year?
Yesterday, Tianhai Cao from the Animal Management Department of Hangzhou Wildlife World analyzed this issue.
"Snakes prefer to live in dark, damp places with water, rats, frogs, birds, and other food sources. In theory, wherever these four conditions exist, snakes could appear," said Tianhai Cao.
Many people say that this year in Hangzhou was exceptionally hot, but in reality, every summer in Hangzhou is hot, with similar numbers of high-temperature days. Therefore, Tianhai Cao believes that the unusually high number of snakebite cases cannot be solely attributed to the heat this year. Moreover, without scientific monitoring, it is not possible to definitively conclude whether there are more snakes now compared to before.
However, according to the hospital's statistics, the number of snakebite cases is indeed increasing year by year. Tianhai Cao thinks this is due to people's living environments getting closer to snakes' habitats.
"With the development of cities, areas that used to be rural are gradually becoming urbanized. More and more houses are being built near forests where snakes live, resulting in more snakes entering residential areas in search of food," said Tianhai Cao.
Generally, snakes don't enter human living spaces through doors. They prefer water routes, swimming through drainage pipes, eventually reaching the toilet bowl or kitchen sink, and then conducting large-scale searches for food.