Need To Find Alternative To 100-Yr-Old Anti-Venom

Madurai, 20 Dec 2019:

Awareness needs to be created on snake bites and the treatment thereafter and there is also a need to find an alternative to the anti-venom that we have been using for more than 100 years, Sakthivel Vaiyapuri, associate professor, University of Reading, UK, has said.

Speaking to reporters after addressing a session on ‘Venomous snake bites, rapid action can save lives’ at Madura College in Madurai on Thursday, Vaiyapuri said the anti-venom that is presently used was derived from antibodies in horses, which is not effective in some cases.

They are now in the process of developing a chemical molecule anti-venom, which could be carried anywhere, and used as a nasal spray or oral drug in addition to injection. This chemical molecule would be more target specific and the activity of the drug would be very high, increasing the chances of survival of victims of snake bite. It would be a protein-based chemical drug and made of completely new molecules.

Many institutes across the world are collaborating in this programme and a breakthrough would be achieved soon. He said that they are also exploring the possibilities of using drugs like neostigmine, a drug used for muscular disorders for cobra bites, as they could result in paralysis. Drugs with reverse venom actions were also being explored.

It was in India that the largest number of people died due to snake bites. If one is bitten by a snake, the first thing to be done is to stay calm, call for help and if possible take a photograph of the snake with your mobile phone, or remember what it looked like to make the treatment faster. The Times Of India