Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on care of victims of snakebite

Abstract

As the world battles COVID-19, other longstanding global health challenges continue to cause illness, disabilities, and death. Among them is the neglected crisis of Snakebite Envenoming (SBE). COVID-19 pandemic comes with lockdowns and movement restriction, however, exposure to snakes did not change in many rural agrarian communities, where incidences are usually highest. For instance, in the year after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, an estimated 2.7 million SBE led to over 100,000 deaths and 400,000 long-term disabilities in the poorest and most rural communities of the world. [...]