Antibiotics for preventing wound infections after snakebite

Background

Snakebite is a public health problem in South Asia, Africa and South America, leading to at least 138,000 deaths and 8,076,000 disability-adjusted life years, being lost every year. A lot of focus of research on snakebite is focussed on anti-venom with other adjunct therapies mostly neglected. Wound infections in snakebite patients are an important problem for clinicians with some studies reporting infection rates up to 70%. There is considerable clinical equipoise on the routing use of antibiotics for preventing infection in snakebite wounds. While some clinical practice guidelines (of poor quality) recommend against using antibiotics routinely, many clinicians continue to use it prophylactically citing concerns about infection. An overview of systematic review conducted by researchers in The George Institute for Global Health, India and published in 2020 in PloS Neglected Tropical Diseases found that there are systematic reviews on wound infections for snakebite.

Aim

To assess the effects of antibiotics for prevention of wound infections in people with snakebite.

Research Methodology

A high-quality systematic review of randomised clinical trials will be conducted in accordance with principles and approach in the Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews.

Potential Impact

The systematic review fills and important knowledge gap and will inform clinical practice guidelines, clinical care and future trials on the domain.