The boomslang venom is a potent procoagulant causing a consumption coagulopathy with resultant profuse haemorrhage. The only effective treatment is the administration of specific antiserum.
Since eight to twenty vials of polyvalent antivenom is required to treat a patient with a symptomatic snake bite and only one or two vials of monovalent antivenom are required to treat a Boomslang bite, treating a patient for a Boomslang bite is actually more cost-effective.
Boomslang monovalent antivenom was developed during the 1940s. The South African Vaccine Producers manufactures a monovalent antivenom for use in boomslang envenomations. Treatment of bites may also require complete blood transfusions, especially after 24 to 48 hours without antivenom.
Because boomslang venom is a hemotoxin it's not surprising that it can lead to major brain and muscle hemorrhage. But the venom also causes other symptoms like nausea, headaches and sleepiness. Perhaps what is most surprising is that this venom has the ability to make the victim bleed from every possible orifice.
A single vial of Boomslang antivenom costs $5500 and one could require up to 3 vials to counteract a serious bite. A King Cobra bite could require 20 vials, although 50 is not unheard of. Fortunately it is a much cheaper antivenom (though also not as effective as others either) at just $40 per vial.
Rather than non-IgE-mediated immediate hypersensitivity, patients receiving the second treatment of antivenom may develop IgE-mediated immediate hypersensitivity. Once happened, the antivenom treatment should be stopped promptly and anti-allergy treatment should be given immediately.
I've heard one of the reasons why some hospitals don't stock antivenom is because of the cost – $1,500 to $2,000 for a single dose – but given the cost of some of the other drugs they stock, the tyranny of distance and the number of people working outside, I don't think this should be a deterrent.
Its venom yields is around eight milligrams (black mambas yield around 300 milligrams) and the amount of boomslang venom needed to kill an adult human is around 0,07 milligrams (black mambas need about 15 milligrams).
If there's a family of snakes you don't want to anger, it would be the vipers. While these snakes don't always have the most deadly bites, they have the most painful ones. Van Wallach of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology has had several viper bites; the worst one, he said, "came from an African bush viper.
The only standardized specific treatment currently available for neutralizing the medically important effects of snake venom toxins is antivenom [8,9,12].
Recent studies have found that Mucuna pruriens leaves are more effective than the standard drug, anti-venin, for curing snakebite.
The inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) is considered the most venomous snake in the world with a murine LD 50 value of 0.025 mg/kg SC. Ernst and Zug et al.
Antivenom is the treatment for serious snake envenomation. The sooner antivenom can be started, the sooner irreversible damage from venom can be stopped. Driving oneself to the hospital is not advised because people with snakebites can become dizzy or pass out.
For best results, antivenom should be given as soon as possible after the bite. It is usually given within the first 4 hours after the snakebite and may be effective for 2 weeks or more after the bite.
Antivenoms are polyclonal antibody preparations produced from the plasma of animals (usually horses or sheep) which have been repeatedly injected with venoms.
Common krait bites can have up to an 80% fatality rate if not treated. The common krait doesn't kill as many people as Russell's viper, but it might be more dangerous overall. This snake is known for having a mortality rate between 70% and 80% if the individual is untreated.
Hemotoxic venom works slower than other types of snake venom, though. That means a person can often survive with proper medical attention. Rattlesnakes, Russell's viper, and copperheads are all snakes with hemotoxic venom.
The black mamba is the species with the highest mortality rate in every single nation in which it occurs, despite not being responsible for the most numerous snakebites. It is also the species which has the highest mortality rate worldwide.
Introducing the most venomous snake in the world and epic predator of the Australian outback! The inland taipan is otherwise known as the fierce snake or small scaled snake.
Considered the second-most venomous terrestrial snake due to its venom potency, the eastern brown snake has a bite to be feared. Located in Australia, this snake is responsible for the most snakebite deaths in its region.
Their main threats are from people, who fear the snakes and their aggressive reputation. While black mambas are often killed out of fear by the people who live near them, their main predators are mongooses, honey badgers, birds such as brown snake eagles, secretary birds, and black-headed herons.
There is a polyvalent and multiple monovalent snake antivenoms commercially available in Australia.
How Is Snake Antivenom Made? Once the venomous snakes have been milked at the Australian Reptile Park and the venom freeze-dried, it is then sent to Seqiris in Melbourne to be made into antivenom.
CSL Ltd is the sole manufacturer of antivenoms for human use in Australia. Australian antivenoms are amongst the best in the world, in terms of purity and adverse reaction rate.