The reality of snakebites – time is tissue

With at least 600,000 people worldwide killed or permanently disabled each year, snakebites are the biggest public health crisis that no one has heard of.

A little about antivenoms…

Developments in antivenoms have helped to reduce mortality rates from snakebites in remote areas. Treatments were previously based on using antibodies from horse serum and required constant refrigeration. This posed several problems: Antibodies from horse serum are known to produce high rates of anaphylaxis and can provoke life-threatening anaphylactic reactions to the antivenom. Its administration required at least two advanced medics on site to deal with any reaction. Since 95% of bites occur in rural areas of the developing world, the need for refrigeration also severely limited where the antivenom could be stored, often leading to a delay in getting the antivenom to the patient.

Modern antivenoms are much more stable and use highly purified antibody fragments that have undergone additional processing to remove the immunogenic component of the molecule responsible for severe allergic reactions. This means they can be transported without cold chain refrigeration, stored on a shelf at ambient tropical temperatures for years, and administered safely by direct intravenous push, helping reduce the time to treatment in remote locations.

“The advances made in antivenoms have helped enormously with the threat to life of snakebites in remote areas. Freeze dried serums that do not require refrigeration and have longer shelf life make treatment more accessible and more affordable, as well as providing improved safety with lower risks of an allergic reaction. With these antivenoms available, more work now needs to be done in terms of outreach and education to help remote communities deal with this threat.” added Benjamin.