Cape Town man dies from cobra bite

[TonyK]

I read in our local newspaper ,The Tygerburger,that a 27 year old man died on Sunday from a Cape Cobra bite to his hand.The details are a bit unclear but it seems he was admitted to Tygerburg hospital where he died 8 hours latter.This is the unclear part ,the article says the man was NOT treated for snake bite .I wonder if anybody else has more details ?

[Bushviper]

I think they mean he did not get antivenom. I guess that is why he died. Kinda stupid to go to a hospital and then NOT get treated. Try contacting the reporter and ask the right questions so that we all can find out what is going on.

[Brussel]

I read the article.

It seems the man was so drugged and disoriented (he was an addict) that he could not adequately explain what happened and by the time they realized it was a bit late. that was my understanding

[it_bit_me]

A bit person will also look drugged and disorientated. EIsh

[Viper Wade]

A nerotoxic venom can make a person seem 'drunk' or on drugs.

[Bushviper]

Could someone please find the original article or give us more info?

[Loslappie]

Ive e mailed the paper asking for the details of the reporter, or to get the reporter to contact me.
read the article here...

http://www.tygerburger.co.za/
Select latest issue and then area Kuilsriver..

[Bushviper]

It seems it was more a case of misdiagnosis than incompetence. Really sad his buddy did not pitch up earlier with the dead snake.

[Smeegle]

To make things a bit easier I have saved a copy of the article here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16853726/SAReptiles/General/Man%20Dies%20From%20Cobra%20Bite.jpg

[Shamrock]

A question to the more knowledgeable.
Suppose they ventilated him when he stopped breathing, and kept him on the ventilator, would that possibly have changed the outcome?
I'm trying to wrap my head around this, as I thought that even without AV you should have a very good chance at survival (allergic reactions put aside of course) if put on a ventilator soon enough. Or am I just understanding it wrong? Please help me out here?

[Bushviper]

Yes he probably would have pulled through had he been adequately ventilated. In this case they did not understand the situation and technically he received zero treatment.

[yoson10]

Do most of the forum members on here have Dutch or British origins? Just curious

A question to the more knowledgeable.
Suppose they ventilated him when he stopped breathing, and kept him on the ventilator, would that possibly have changed the outcome?
I'm trying to wrap my head around this, as I thought that even without AV you should have a very good chance at survival (allergic reactions put aside of course) if put on a ventilator soon enough. Or am I just understanding it wrong? Please help me out here?

Yeah like BV said he would have had a pretty good chance of pulling through if put on a ventilator...You do see deaths when people are on ventilators but that's usually because they are brought in like very late and rushed to be put on a ventilator and it's already pretty much to late...You do also see respiratory infections like Pneumonia causing deaths while people are on the ventilator from the venom but that is pretty rare and more common to 3rd world areas and small rural hospitals that lack equipment...A major hospital in a prosperous area would be able to deal with a serious respiratory infections that comes up when the person is on a ventilator.

[TonyK]

Do most of the forum members on here have Dutch or British origins? Just curious

@Yoson 10 I would love to have somebody look at my DNA then I could answer your question.If you took a simplistic view then maybe you could say English speaking guys British and then Afrikaans speakers Dutch but its not so simple .I had both English and Afrikaans grandparents so ether way I`m just a South African, my ancestral roots are long lost.

[Shamrock]

Thanks for the awnser, just wanted some clarity.
It's still a tragedy, no matter who's at fault.

[Shaun]

I was requested to I'd the suspected snake being a jnr Cape Cobra. I then leaked the story to the media. There has been a twist or two added but nothing big.