Vipera Snakebite in Children: A Focus on Europe
Greta Orlandi, Nadia Rossi, Francesco Chiarelli, Paola Di Filippo
Abstract
Although there are over 5 million cases of snakebites each year, up-to-date data on epidemiology and management in European children are lacking in literature. Snakebite envenoming is a rare but potentially life-threatening event, and children are more susceptible due to their lower weight-to-venom ratio. Symptoms of viper envenomation in children are mainly local, but the lymphatic and blood diffusion of the venom may cause systemic symptoms, mainly hemotoxic and cytotoxic symptoms. Immunotherapy with anti-viper serums is the cornerstone of treatment for viper bites, while the use of antibiotics, steroids and analgesics is still unclear and unstandardized. Recently, efforts have been made to improve the pediatric approach to viper envenomation in European children. Several pediatric case reports in children were reported in literature, and a pediatric grading severity score and electronic clinical tool (VipGrade®) were created to better manage this issue. However, larger studies are needed to validate these pediatric tools. This narrative review focuses on the clinical characteristics and management of European snake envenomation in children.