A seven-year-old boy from the Haifa area was rushed to the Rambam Hospital's emergency room at the beginning of the week suffering from acute symptoms for an unknown reason.
Since the circumstances of the incident were somewhat vague, the family suspected that it was an allergic reaction to some kind of sting, but as the hours ticked by and the symptoms worsened, it was decided to take the child to the hospital. When he arrived at the emergency room, it turned out that it was a snake bite. The snake in question, a species known as the Palestine viper, was found hiding in the wardrobe in the children's room, which the boy and his four siblings share.
"My son woke up at five in the morning screaming," repeated the mother. "He was crying and complaining of pain, but we couldn't figure out what happened. We saw that the thumb on his left hand was blue and that he was holding his hand without being able to move it. We thought he might have sprained his hand, or fallen out of bed while sleeping. For a moment we didn't think of any other scenario."
During the morning hours, the child was brought to a local clinic near his house, where a preliminary inquiry was made, but the attending physician, who noticed bite marks on the child's hand, suspected that it was an allergic reaction and released the child after the the relevant treatment.
During the morning it seemed that his condition was only getting worse, and the mother chose to go back to the doctor for a re-examination: "The hand was already twice its usual size. He was already lethargic and the situation was quite alarming. When we got to the clinic, he vomited. The doctor came out of the office and asked to call an ambulance for immediate evacuation to Rambam."
When they arrived at the children's emergency room, the suspicion arose that it was a snake bite. According to Dr. Idit Pasternak, director of the children's emergency department at the Ruth Children's Hospital in Rambam, who examined the child, although no signs of injury were found on the hand, the observed symptoms, including the severe pain, the swelling in the hand, the appearance of hemorrhages, and redness and swelling that keep spreading, definitely indicated a snake bite: "We always look for a sign of a bite, which was not seen in this case, but the child presented all the textbook symptoms of a venomous snake bite. I contacted Dr. Yael Luria, the director of the Poison Information Center, and told her that I suspected a snake bite. Dr. Luria and Dr. Kahana came to evaluate the child and agreed that it was probably a bite, and although there was no conclusive proof, since it was a critical situation, it was decided to give serum treatment."
Due to the time that had passed since the bite and the acute symptoms the child developed, he was hospitalized for a day in the pediatric intensive care unit. At the same time, a snake catcher who was brought to the family home, located the cause of the drama - the viper that was hiding in the wardrobe of the children's room.
According to the mother, the snake got in the house even though the apartment has screens on all windows, and apparently entered the house through one of the drain openings in the bathrooms or the kitchen, as the trapper explained to her.
"The immediate feeling was a feeling of gratitude," says the mother, "thinking about all the times we entered and left the room that morning, how many times I opened that wardrobe, the other children who slept in the same room and were not harmed and the fact that my son was on the road to recovery. There are no words to describe the magnitude of this miracle . Parents must feel the children, listen to them, their complaints and see them. Although they are children, they know very well what they need."
After further treatment in the children's hospitalization department at Rambam, the boy was released to his home, feeling well.
According to the data of the Poison Control Center in Rambam Hospital, between the months of January and July, the center handled 35 inquiries concerning snake bites. It is expected that with the rise in temperatures and the warming of the weather, as every year, the number of these cases will increase.
"Cases of snake bites increase in the spring and summer seasons, that's when the snakes come out," explain the experts of the pharmacology and clinical toxicology department and point out that not all snakes are venomous, but there are several species of venomous snakes in Israel such as the common viper and the mixed viper.
"All over the country there are venomous and non-venomous species, while the bites may happen during trips, recreation in parks, playgrounds and also around the house, therefore - as in many cases, the best treatment is prevention!", points out Dr. Yael Luria, Director of the National Center for Information in Rambam Hospital. "It is very important to make sure that the living, working and playing areas are clean and not covered with weeds, thorns, waste piles or other hiding places where snakes may hide. It should be remembered that the poisonous snakes in Israel are also active at night, so when you go for a walk or to the yard in the evening, or at night, you should take care of good lighting or a flashlight and look carefully around. If you see a snake in the residential area, stay away and call a qualified snake catcher."