A young woman died on Monday morning after being bitten by a snake in Matlab Dakshin (South) upazila of Chandpur district.

The victim, Sharmin Akhtar, 21, was treated at Chandpur General Hospital with anti-venom on Sunday and initially seemed to recover.

But she fell ill again on Monday at her maternal grandmother’s home in Nobokolos village and later died.

According to family members, Sharmin was bitten by a snake while going to the toilet on Saturday evening at her maternal grandmother’s home.

Local traditional treatment was given before she was taken to the hospital, where she received anti-venom. But it was evidently too late.

Sharmin was daughter of Hannan Mir from Char Nilakhshipur village of Matlab Municipality, and wife of Raju Patwari of Faridganj.

Her maternal grandfather said, “She leaves behind a nine-month-old daughter.”

Chandpur Sadar Hospital Superintendent Dr. AKM Mahbubur Rahman told UNB, “Snake bite victims must be brought to hospitals immediately, as delayed treatment can reduce the effectiveness of the anti-venom.”

Senior doctor Sakhawat Hossain from the Civil Surgeon’s Office informed that in the past nine months, four people have died from snake bites in the district, and 555 were injured.

The deaths occurred in Haimchar, Matlab South, and Kachua upazilas. All four victims sought treatment from traditional healers at first.

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Most snake bite injuries were reported in Matlab Uttar (170 patients) and Hajiganj (131 patients).

Dr Nur Alam Din, district civil surgeon of Chandpur, told UNB, “Anti-venom is available in all eight upazila health complexes, but lack of awareness continues to make people rely on traditional healers.”