According to a new study, injuries from snake bites are becoming more common.
Doctors said in a report that in the last 11 years they have seen and treated 300 victims, including 72 teenagers or children.
Most recovered completely, but some had to be treated in intensive care, one patient had his finger amputated and another man died from the bite.
The man who died was a reptile conservationist and had been bitten by a royal cobra, the longest venomous snake in the world, according to the report.
According to eyewitnesses, after being bitten, the man staggered “like he was drunk” and then collapsed.
He died of cardiac arrest, although emergency services gave him 10 vials of antivinin.
According to doctors in the journal Clinical Toxicology, he may have an allergic reaction to the antidote.
The patient who lost part of his finger kept a snake as a pet and was bitten by the highly venomous species of the Mozambican spitting snake, considered one of the most dangerous African snakes.
Their tusks can spray poison up to 3 m, with potentially lethal bites.
Image: The only British venomous snake, the viper, has enough venom to kill an adult
There are more than 250 species of venomous snakes, most native to Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania.
But the UK has three species of native snakes, the viper, the snake and the smooth snake.
Only the viper is poisonous.
While keeping exotic reptiles as pets is not illegal, the RSPCA advises people to research what it entails before buying one.
The charity advises people with a pet python not to manipulate it “after manipulating prey, as the snake may smell the food and try to bite.”
Image: A patient lost part of his finger after being bitten by a Mozambican cobra
In the study, researchers found 321 snake bites from 68 species between 2009 and 2020, of which 15 caused severe symptoms.
They say this is an increase in the period previously recorded, between 2004 and 2010.
Professor David Warrell of Oxford University said: “Most of these bites occur on the fingers, hands and wrists after deliberate interaction by people holding snakes as part of their occupation or hobby “.