Knowledge Regarding Snakebite Prevention in a Community with High Snakebite Incidence in Nepal

The WHO has listed snakebite envenomation as a neglected tropical disease. In Southeast Asia, the highest recorded incidence is 162 deaths per 100,000 population per year in the eastern Terai of Nepal. Education is an effective method to raise awareness among community people about snakebite prevention. The main objective of this study is to assess the knowledge regarding snakebite prevention among the community members of Kawaswoti Municipality Ward-08. A cross-sectional study was carried out from September 2022 to October 2022. Of 2,000 households, 323 samples were taken using convenience sampling technique. The median age was 42 years with interquartile range of 17, and the minimum/maximum age was 20/72 years. The majority of people identified locally occurring snakes. The overall knowledge regarding snake bite was unsatisfactory in nearly half of the population, but knowledge about prevention measures was high. More than two-thirds of the study participants recognized tourniquet application as appropriate first-aid treatment of snakebite, which is not the recommended practice at present; only 33.7% reported knowing the correct way to actually use tourniquets. There was a significant association between level of snakebite treatment or prevention knowledge and education levels. Hence, to develop culturally appropriate social and behavioral change strategies tailored to different population subgroups, considering variations in literacy levels and vulnerabilities, there is a need to understand current and local knowledge of members of the community.