Snake Envenoming─An Underreported Cause of Acute Kidney Injury

Snake bite poisoning is listed as one of the underreported causes of tropical diseases by the World Health Organization. Accurate estimates of snake bite–related global morbidity and mortality are not available. As per a recent annual estimate, approximately 81,000 to 138,000 deaths occur from approximately 1.8 million to 2.7 million snake envenomings throughout the world.1 Although it is a global problem of worrisome enormity, most of the deaths occur in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Rural-dwelling low-income populations are particularly vulnerable to a snake bite.