Snake bites become devastating in Mwingi, Kitui County

Between 800 and 1000 snake bites, death cases have been reported in Kitui County, with Mwingi area registering more than 60 casualties in a duration of ten decades. Some cases go undocumented since they happen in the remote regions of Mwingi, this making assumption of the number of victims could be higher.

Due to favorable high climates of 24 Degrees Celsius in Mwingi area, it has been prone for snake breeding which has caused many conflicts between the Mwingi residents and snakes. This made Kitui County to be ranked in the second position in Kenya after Baringo County in the number of snake bites.

With the latest record from Mwingi level (IV) hospital, a four-year-old Joel Musili is the recent victim of a snake bite who was bitten when he was asleep in their house on Saturday 22nd June this year. The doctor said it is by a quick response that saved Joel and availability of Snake Venom Antiserum in hospital.

Agnes Mutami, a resident in Mwingi, narrated to Citizen TV on pain of losing her ten-year-old son in Mwingi level (IV) hospital. “My son Japheth died hours after he was admitted to Mwingi District hospital. He was bitten by a snake when he was grazing goats on the grazing area. Before we arrived at the hospital, the poison had destroyed most of the key organs, and the doctors could not save my son,” said Agnes.

The Mwingi residents blame the poor access to hospital and unavailability of the Snake Venom Antiserum medicine as the leading causes of the increased deaths. The residents urged the local authorities to assist in referring the snake bite victims to the nearby hospital by helping them access some transport from Mwingi sub-county ambulances.