A Hot Bite

The sight of a snake in the grass might make you sweat, but if it bites you’ll be hot in a different way. Venomous bites, which present the greatest threat, cause a localised increase in skin temperature around the swollen site. Identifying these early is key to starting treatments that mitigate the effects of the spreading poison. A new study has tested a smartphone-based tool that can instantly show relative skin temperature, revealing warm regions (red) around venomous bites (left, circled) and no clear heat spot around most dry bites (when a venomous snake mercifully elects not to inject its venom) or non-venomous ones (right). The device uses similar technology to that in night-vision cameras, detecting infrared radiation emanating from an object to show temperature. This quick test could help doctors stay cool under pressure and take fast action when needed.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by Paramasivam Sabitha and colleagues
• Department of Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, February 2021