Plans are afoot for the African Snake Bite Institute to set up 25 antivenom banks countrywide, some of which will be in Zululand.
The cost will be about R44 000 per antivenom bank, which will house 15 vials of polyvalent antivenom and two vials of monovalent boomslang antivenom.
The initial cost of setting up all 25 antivenom banks will be about R1-million.
Johan Marais, world renowned author, herpetologist and entrepreneur, set up the Snake Bite Institute Foundation NPO to help snakebite victims across southern Africa.
This is because antivenom is expensive and often in short supply and, unfortunately, not all hospitals in southern Africa keep stock.
This could prove deadly for snakebite victims who require urgent help.
In South Africa, there are around 12 fatal snakebites a year, but there are also a number of serious bites from snakes like the Mozambique spitting cobra and puff adder, often resulting in severe tissue damage and even the loss of limbs.
In the case of cytotoxic bites from snakes like the puff adder and Mozambique spitting cobra, time is of the essence and the sooner victims are hospitalised and receive the correct treatment, the less the extent of the tissue damage.
While antivenom is regularly stocked in the main centres, this is generally not where snake bites occur and getting the antivenom to these locations can be a logistical nightmare.
Therefore, having antivenom banks in both high snakebite incidence areas and remote locations could prove a vital step in speedy snakebite treatment in southern Africa.
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