New Anti-Venom for Snake Bite Victims

The drug, which is expected in few years time, is said to sustain room temperature without the needs of the refrigerator.

Dr. Robert Harrison, who is leading the research at LSTM's Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit, has collected 21 species – 450 animals in total – of sub-Saharan Africa's most deadly snakes.

Harrison and his team have been extracting venom from the reptiles, using a process known as 'milking', to concoct a new anti-venom that he hopes will prevent the deaths and severe injuries of snake bite victims.

"32,000 people are dying from snake bite every year in sub-Saharan Africa. But it's not only that; other people who survive the bite – about 100,000 of them – are living with severe disabled limbs or legs, just really very disabling conditions," said Harrison.

He added that the impact on communities can be particularly severe if a snake bite renders a family's main bread-winner unable to work.

Milking venom from snakes

"People are exposed to snakebite by whatever they're doing and wherever they're doing it. And what it does do is affect these people dramatically, because the loss of the main income earner for instance because his arm can no longer function or he's had his leg amputated as a result of snakebite,’

Anti-venoms are made by first 'milking' the venom from a snake before injecting it in low doses into a horse or sheep.

The animal doesn't become ill, but the venom induces an immune response that produces anti-bodies in the animal.

These anti-bodies are then extracted from the animal's blood to create anti-venom.

In rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa where people are exposed to various species of deadly snakes, the current treatment involves a broad-spectrum anti-venom to cover all the snake species that could be responsible.

by Musalia Wycliffe

Source: Reuters