Assessing for Utility of Phospholipase A2 ELISA in Snakebite victims

Background - Snakebite is a significant public health problem in India and recently also declared as a notifiable disease. Early identification of systemic envenomation is crutial for timely ASV administration. 20 minute whole blood clotting time is the commonly used bedside test to detect envenomation. However it lack sensitivity and specificity. Phospholipase A2 is a major enzymatic component of elapid and viper species. Hence it has emerged as a biomarker for detecting envenomation using ELISA based assays.

Objective - To evaluate the diagnostic utility of serum PLA2 measured by ELISA for detecting venomous and non venomous snakes.

Methodology - Hospital based cases control study done in the emergency medicine department of Father Muller Medical College. 100 cases of venomous bites and 100 cases on non venomous bites patients blood will be tested for levels of serum PLA2 using ELISA kits. Diagnostic performance will be assessed using sensitivity, specificity and area under curve. Relevant clinical and Laboratory parameters will be noted down.

Expected outcome - This study aims to determine whether serum PLA2 can serve as a biomarker for detecting venomous snake, support in the daignostic tool in resource limited settings.