Anti-venom needs to be region-specific, finds IISc study

Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) is among the ‘big four’ major killer snakes in the world.
Russell’s viper
Russell’s viper

BENGALURU: Commercially available anti-venom for Russell’s viper was effective for most snakes of this species, despite variations in toxicity and composition due to geographical factors, said a study by the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science (IISc).The study, recently published in the PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal, aimed to understand why common anti-venom did not work in most snakebite cases.

While the anti-venom worked against most species of Russel’s viper, the exceptions were vipers found in the semi-aird regions of North India. However, the researchers warned that their findings were not indicative of whether or not the anti-venom would protect one from life-long injuries caused due to Russell’s viper bites.

“Snakebites in India result in over 58,000 deaths and a vast number of morbidities annually. A majority of these clinically severe complications caused due to snakebites are attributed to Russell’s viper,” they said.
Researchers used two methods to to check the efficacy of anti-venom. In the first method, they held an ‘in-vitro’ venom recognition experiment, to study the binding of the anti-venom to the venom protein. In the second method, the ‘in-vivo’ neutralisation assay, researchers injected mice with mice to check if the anti-venom worked.

Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) is among the ‘big four’ major killer snakes in the world. The other three being cobra (Naja Naja), common krait (Bungarus Caeruleus) and the saw-scaled viper (Echis Carinatus).
Interestingly, a previous study by the researchers revealed the complete opposite for cobras. Researchers had found a similar variation of venom in various locations for cobras. However, the commercially available anti-venom did not work for most of them.

Researchers suggest that for anti-venom treatment to be effective, it has to be developed based on the region, especially in snakebite hotspots in India.They suggested a long term strategy, developing an anti-venom that would work pan-India, after gathering adequate information about all kinds of venom. 

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