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RE: FL coral snake article
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by Cro on June 5, 2008
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As far as the Latrodectus (Black Widow Spider) bites.
You have stated that one person has died from the Antivenom administration.
How many deaths have their been from the bite of the spidey itself ?
The treatment that you describe seems to address dealing with the pain, muscle tension, and other symptoms caused by the bite.
This sounds unplesent, however, it tends to suggest that the body will detoxify much of the venom after about 24 hours. After that, is there a tapering down of symptoms over several days, or does it stop more abrubptly ?
If someone were bitten and decided to ride out the bite, say because they were unable to get to a medical center, because of being on a hiking or canoeing trip, how well would they be able to control the bite symptoms with commonly available pain killers like Advil, Asperin, etc....
Also, would an antihistimine like Benadryl (diphenhydramine), help ?
Best Regards John Z
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RE: FL coral snake article
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by JoeCrotalid on June 5, 2008
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John:
The one individual who died as aresult of antivenom administration suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction. In cases of envenomation, the only documented deaths were in small children and elderly patients with complicating medical issues.
The key to the antivenom revolves around fast resolution of the symptoms in a moderate to severe envenomation which as Jeff pointed out historically acount for abount 50% of widow hospital admissions. With administration of the antivenom perhaps 99% of these patients could be sent home from the ED without ever needing admission.
As I stated though, many physicians shy away from the current antivenom because of the 1 documented death associated with it's use and the fact that many patients can be treated with narcotic and muscle relaxers but those same patients may reuire admission in severe cases for days until the pain controlled or the venom effects start to resolve.
With regards to OTC meds in the field=you can try them but many patients try these meds before coming to the ED because of the severe abdominal pain associated with envenomation. But as stated in another discussion, pain is subjective and everyone handles it different.
Bioclon is currently involved in phase 3 clinical study of a new antivenom in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Poison Center, abd if it gets FDA approval and proves effective-perhaps we can prevent any patients from needing to be admitted to the hospital if it is given in the ED.
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RE: FL coral snake article
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by Venom2 on June 18, 2008
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Just to add an update to what JoeCrotalid stated. The City of Palm Coast Fire Department (Northeast Florida) will also soon be another resource for antivenin. This comes after many months of work for special permits and equipment, and after realizing that Miami-Dade, as great as there program is, still has limitations with response times and available antivenin. The Miami-Dade team is comprised of six paramedics highly knowledgable in the area of antivenin administration and snake envenomation. The Palm Coast Fire Department has 16 paramedics dedicated to its team as well as the same resources for transport by ground or air. A publication will soon be out acknowledging this new resource as well as a partnership with venomous reptile expert Dr. Sergey Turchin M.D., author of "Venomous creatures of Florida". It would be great if the officials higher up would give more assistance to these type of agencies, since they already have the resources to provide emrgency transport of antivenin. More to come very soon.....
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