Shortage of snake antivenom worryingly low, experts warn

Snake experts are raising the alarm over a shortage of South African-produced polyvalent snake antivenom, as a production backlog is causing waiting times of at least six months for the delivery of the life-saving treatment.

The polyvalent antivenom is the gold standard for the treatment of venomous snake bites and is produced in Johannesburg by the South African Vaccine Producers (SAVP), a subsidiary of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS).

Snake bites treatment

This antivenom (SAIMR Polyvalent Snakebite Antiserum SAVP) treats snakebites from the black mamba, green mamba, Jameson’s mamba, Cape cobra, forest cobra, snouted cobra Mozambique spitting cobra, rinkhals, puff adder and Gaboon viper.

Production backlog

A massive production backlog at the SAVP has led to shortages, especially among veterinarians, says Johan Marais, herpetologist and CEO of the African Snakebite Institute.

“People’s dogs have died because for the last eight months veterinarians cannot buy antivenom,” said Marais. Snakes bite around 3 500 people in South Africa each year, with 800 hospitalisations, Marais estimated.

Of these, 10% require antivenom treatment and treatments range from six to 20 vials per patient. There are 10 snakebite deaths per year in South Africa, Marais estimates.

Severe tissue damage

Bites from puff adders and Mozambique spitting cobras must be treated quickly as they can cause severe tissue damage, he said.

Mike Perry, founder of African Reptiles and Venom, supplies the SAVP with the raw snake venom used to produce the polyvalent antivenom.

The venom he supplies in 2023 will only be part of the antivenom available in five years, Perry said. The snake venom he supplies is injected into horses in low doses over long periods of time.

When the horses become hyperimmune to the venom, blood is drawn from the horses and the antibodies against the venom are separated from the blood, Perry explained.

Load shedding affects production

Load shedding has negatively affected antivenom production, NHLS spokesperson Mzimasi Gcukumana told GroundUp.

It currently doesn’t have a contract with the producer for antivenom despite it being “an essential medicine,” national department of health spokesperson Foster Mohale said.

The SAVP informed officials that the “difficulty in sourcing the material” was the reason for the current low stock. Mohale did not have statistics as each province often buys antivenom directly from the SAVP.

READ MORE: WATCH: The most venomous African snake

This article first appeared on GroundUp and was republished with permission. Read the original article here