Which Snake? The Snakebite Syndromic Approach (WHO SEARO and AFRO)
Suggests which snakes a snakebite picture points to (WHO syndromes).
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Region
- Africa (WHO AFRO)
- Local swelling
- Marked
- Blood
- Does not clot (20WBCT)
- Paralysis
- No
Result: Syndrome 2: marked swelling with incoagulable blood or bleeding. Strongly suggests a saw-scaled or carpet viper (northern third of Africa); also desert horned vipers or some puff adders. Monospecific Echis antivenom south of the Sahara and north of the equator; polyspecific antivenom anywhere in Africa.
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What you enter
- Region
- Local swelling
- Blood
- Paralysis (drooping eyelids, weakness)
- Asia: where the bite happened
- Asia: dark urine, shock or kidney injury
- Asia: bitten in Maluku or West Papua (Indonesia)
How this is calculated
Citation
WHO AFRO. Guidelines for the prevention and clinical management of snakebite in Africa. 2010, ch. 8, pp. 53-55. Warrell DA, for WHO SEARO. Guidelines for the management of snakebites. 2nd ed. 2016, pp. 101, 186. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.