VietNamNet Bridge – Doctors from Can Tho City's Military Hospital 121 have advised local people to protect themselves from poisonous snakebites during the rainy season in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta localities.

Illustrative image -- File photo

The rainy season often starts in April in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta localities each year. Snakes tend to multiply during the rainy season.

The doctors said people should cut the bushes around their houses and wear garden boots before going to fields.

The advice came after the hospital received 10 cases of people being bitten by vipers, mainly the white-lipped pit viper (Trimeresurus albolabris), each week since the middle of May.

Most of the patients were farmers, the doctors said.

Nguyen Van Cuong, 51, said he was bitten by a white-lipped pit viper when he was cutting grass in his garden last Monday. Cuong was taken to the hospital with symptoms of low blood pressure and dizziness, while his right leg, where he was bitten, became swollen.

Nguyen Van Thang, 35, said a white-lipped pit viper attacked him when he was cleaning his kitchen last Monday.

Tran Thanh Binh, 39, a fisherman, said a copperhead bit him while he was fishing on May 25. He showed symptoms of suffocation and his tongue became numb.

Head of the Digestive and Blood Diseases Department Nguyen Van Vinh said people's lives could be saved if they were promptly taken to the hospital after being bitten by vipers.

Doctors said people should clean the area of snakebite with soap and cover it with a clean, dry dressing and go to the nearest health clinic for treatment.

VNS