Jepngok Kiptui was just three when she was bitten by a snake while sleeping in her bed at home in Baringo County, North-Western Kenya. It took more than five hours to get her to the county’s main referral hospital, after being referred from two hospitals that lacked the capacity to treat her. Little Cheptui had to undergo three surgeries: the first to remove the dead tissues killed by the snake’s venom, and two skin grafting surgeries. Photograph by Paul Odongo
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09 February 2023

By Julien Potet, Senior Advisor, Tropical Diseases and Neglected Diseases, MSF Access Campaign

TROPICAL & NEGLECTED DISEASES
Jepngok Kiptui was just three when she was bitten by a snake while sleeping in her bed at home in Baringo County, North-Western Kenya. It took more than five hours to get her to the county’s main referral hospital, after being referred from two hospitals that lacked the capacity to treat her. Little Cheptui had to undergo three surgeries: the first to remove the dead tissues killed by the snake’s venom, and two skin grafting surgeries. Photograph by Paul Odongo

Some diseases are more neglected than others. This is the case with snakebites, which are responsible for more than 100,000 deaths every year worldwide. A recent MSF publication in Toxicon X highlights the resources needed to improve the management of snakebite venom poisoning in resource-limited settings.

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