Posted by:
WW
at Sun Oct 19 05:29:52 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by WW ]
After all that was written, I have to say I see no reasn to discount a gaboon bite.
To those critical of the guy and his action with spitting cobras, all I will say is that when you are living in the rural tropics, where snakes are a common and omnipresent danger, one's feelings about them and interactions with them tend to look just a shade different from our rose-tinted spectacles view from the comfort of our first world living rooms.
Cheers,
Wolfgang
>>Either snake could have produced the problems you experienced so, obviously, there is no way to know for sure which it was. However, from scanning the handful of case reports in the medical literature, it seems to me that severe coagulation problems are less common following envenomation by puff adders vs. gaboon vipers. There was one gaboon case in which clotting problems developed 3 days post, similar to what you described if I’m reading your history correctly. The rapid hypotension you experienced also seems to be more associated with gaboon bites, as is the lung edema / effusion.
>>
>>As people more knowledgeable than I have said here, puffs are more commonly the culprit in bites occurring in areas inhabited by both species, but I can see no compelling reason for you to change your moniker to “Puff Survivor”.
>>
>>Best of luck,
>>WK
>>
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Agreed... - WW, Sun Oct 19 05:29:52 2003