Yet another death due to snakebite was reported from the coastal mandal of Repalle. This time, a 50-year-old farmer, Ch. Prasad, who was threshing paddy in his farm, was bitten by a poisonous snake at about 5 a.m. on Monday, but by the time he was brought to the nearest Area Hospital at Repalle, it was too late. Adding to the woes of family, the hospital has run out of anti-snake vials stocks. Prasad succumbed to the snakebite.
It was only three months back that a two-year-old boy, Pittu Rohit Reddy, died of snakebite at Cherukupalli. Even then, the area hospital had no sufficient stocks of anti-venom vials.
The Central Drug Stores in Guntur maintains the stocks of anti-snake vials but they should be kept in refrigeration. The Andhra Pradesh Medical Service and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMSIDC) which maintains the anti-snake vial stocks said that sufficient stocks were available at the Central Drug Stores at Gorantla.
