 This is the VOA Special English Health Report. Researchers are finding new ways to save snake bite victims. Experts discussed the latest findings during a recent meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Scientists in Australia have shown that a chemical called nitric oxide could increase the chances of surviving a poisonous snake bite. The scientists injected rats with deadly amounts of snake venom. Then, they rubbed an ointment containing nitric oxide on the skin around the injection site. The study found that the rats lived about one-third longer than if the ointment had not been used. But the treatment had to be started very quickly. Dirk van Helden led the research at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. He says the nitric oxide ointment also showed promise in humans. Volunteers were injected with a harmless liquid that contained molecules about the same size as snake venom molecules. Many snake venoms contain large molecules that can only enter the bloodstream through the body's lymphatic system. The nitric oxide slows the pumping action of the lymphatic system and that slows the flow of venom into the blood. The study appeared in the journal Nature Medicine. Scientists say the findings could help save many lives. A study from 2008 found that poisonous snakes cause as many as 94,000 deaths worldwide each year. But Ulrich Kuk of the Biodiversity and Climate Research Center in Frankfurt, Germany says new numbers from very rigorously designed and well-conducted studies in India and Bangladesh have come up with numbers that suggest that the real death toll of snake bites at the global level is much higher. Mr. Kuk says many deaths could be prevented, but snake bite victims often go to traditional healers or do not seek any help at all. Either because there is no treatment available, no anti-venom, which is the specific drug to treat snake bites, or because healthcare staff do not know how to treat snake bites, or because transportation to get to a health facility is not available or too expensive. There is no single anti-venom that can be used to treat all snake bites. The anti-venom must be specific to the kind of snake that bit the person. In some countries, the treatment is expensive. In others, the problem is a lack of availability or a lack of training in treating snake bites. New tests are being developed to help rural health workers know the right anti-venom to give. For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.