Poisonous viper ‘greets’ teenager at friend’s house

A teenage girl, bitten by a Palestinian viper last week, was given anti-serum and treated in intensive care at Rehovot’s Kaplan Medical Center.

Stav Buhbut was visiting her best friend at Moshav Gefen near the Masmiya junction.

She stood near the front door when a viper emerged from a bush and bit her in the right leg, but managed to move away before the reptile reached her other limb.

Very weak, vomiting and with a swollen leg, she was rushed to the hospital by her friend’s mother. Buhbut is now in good condition.

Her mother, Yaffa, said it was fortunate that the snake did not manage to bite her on both legs, and that her friend’s mother was present and able to take her immediately to the hospital.

Dr. Gennady Bergman, a senior intensive care unit physician, said the girl arrived in moderate to serious condition.

But after receiving the anti-serum, her condition improved. In the intensive care unit, she was kept under observation to ensure she did not suffer breathing problems or clotting. Her quick arrival and treatment at the hospital saved her life, Bergman said.

Yael Polishook, the intensive care unit’s chief nurse, said there are many snakes about this time of the year, especially in grassy areas in kibbutzim, moshavim and other agricultural areas. “Be alert, and don’t walk about in the dark in areas with thorny plants that have a water source that is relatively cool,” she said.

The signs of snakebite are reduced consciousness, a growing feeling of choking, confusion and redness and swelling in a limb.