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Season brings Arizona snakebite surge Rain, breeding lead to increase in cases by Michael Clancy - Aug. 24, 2012 09:32 PM The Republic | azcentral.com Arizona poison-control officials are warning residents about the recent surge in rattlesnake bites that may push one of the state's two centers to a new monthly high. Banner Good Samaritan Poison and Drug Information Center in Phoenix reported three patients in a single evening on Thursday. The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center in Tucson reported 14 bites in a recent six-day period. One of Thursday's patients at Good Samaritan was John Otten of Tonto Valley, a small community along Tonto Creek between Payson and Globe. Otten, 71, said he was out walking his dog when he sat down in a chair. He let his hand dangle. "I didn't see it, and the dog didn't see it," he said. "I just got complacent." August and September have more snakebites than any other month of the year because of the monsoon storms and because baby snakes are born at the end of July and early August. Dr. Mazda Shirazi, medical director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, said juvenile rattlesnakes are just as lethal as adults and may be more dangerous. They are harder to see, and their rattle is not as loud. "They are born with fangs, and their venom may be more potent," he said, to help them hunt when they are young. Snakebite reports at the Good Samaritan center and at the Tucson center show 49 victims through Wednesday, with 25 reported to the Good Samaritan center. The figure does not include Thursday's three additional patients. The records for the month are 31 bites reported to the center in Phoenix in August 2007 and 39 reported in Tucson in August 2009. The Phoenix center, which covers Maricopa County, reported 21 bites in August 2011. Tucson, which covers the rest of the state, reported 26. Experts such as Russ Johnson of the Phoenix Herpetological Society said not only are snakebite reports peaking, snake-removal requests are high, too. "Since the last few storms, it has been a little chaotic," said Johnson, whose organization educates the public about reptiles and rescues reptiles who are out of their element, such as a rattlesnake in a garage. "We don't have numbers," he said, "but the phone has been ringing off the hook." Keith Boesen, director of the center in Tucson, said snake activity is not well understood. One month may see more or fewer bites based on the external environment in years past or on snake biology, he said. In addition, more people are out after monsoon rains lower temperatures. As a result, August and September are the worst months for rattlesnake bites. One of those bitten this year was 4-year-old Tristan Thomas of Golden Valley, outside Kingman. Brenda Thomas, his mother, said people need to know a snake can strike at any time. Tristan was treated in time and is pretty much back to normal, she said. "The best thing is that you don't have to die from a snakebite anymore unless you don't get treated," she said. Dr. Frank LoVecchio of the Banner Good Samaritan poison center said last year by this time, 45 snakebites were reported to the center. This year, the number already is up to 60. The record for the center is 117 in 2009. The Tucson center's annual record is 171 bites in 2006. It has seen 99 bites through Wednesday for the year. Otten, the man from Tonto Basin, said he remains in pain from the bite and was told it might last a while. He fears he could lose his fingers, hand or part of his arm. Another good reason to avoid snakebites, besides the pain, is that the cost of antivenom used to treat the bites has gone way up, LoVecchio said. An average course of treatment could run as high as $25,000 for the medicine alone, he said -- maybe even more. Despite the cost, LoVecchio and Shirazi recommend getting snakebite victims to a hospital as soon as possible. |