Hump-nosed viper bite: an important but under-recognized cause of systemic envenoming

• Published in: Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Mitrakrishnan Chrishan Shivanthan, Jevon Yudhishdran, Rayno Navinan, Senaka Rajapakse
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SciELO 2014
• Subjects: Hypnale; Hump-nosed viper; Envenoming; Viper; Venom; Antivenom; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Toxicology. Poisons; RA1190-1270; Zoology; QL1-991; Arctic; Indian
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/1678-9199-20-24; https://doaj.org/article/e350d5deb6774b2d8328e8c8fb4e43e6

Hump-nosed viper bites are common in the Indian subcontinent. In the past, hump-nosed vipers (Hypnalespecies) were considered moderately venomous snakes whose bites result mainly in local envenoming. However, a variety of severe local effects, hemostatic dysfunction, microangiopathic hemolysis, kidney injury and death have been reported following envenoming byHypnalespecies. We systematically reviewed the medical literature on the epidemiology, toxin profile, diagnosis, and clinical, laboratory and postmortem features of hump-nosed viper envenoming, and highlight the need for development of an effective antivenom.