poor man’s disease

May 28, 2018 3:28 AM

Causing around 100 000 deaths a year, snake bites have been made a global health priority by the World Health Authority. Mambas, medicine and one girl's race to survive Kenya's biting problem
posted by fearfulsymmetry (3 comments total)

I am in Ethiopia. My organization has a project site in the north of the country. At one point, we employed several snake-milkers. The only antivenin approved for import was for Indian snakes, so we wanted to demonstrate that the snakes we were dealing with were not going to be cured. So they would catch the snakes (my first question: how), milk their fangs for venom (my second question: were the snakes alive), and then -- I guess -- add the antivenin (third question: why is it spelled antivenin) to the venom to see if it coagulated (fourth question: did they add blood?; fifth question: did they return the snakes to nature?).

Anyway, we all talk about it in country but apparently we no longer employ any snake-milkers. I, slightly drunk, saw a snake two nights ago while in the latrine. I shrieked and held it for a few more hours until I was drunk/brave enough to go back. That said, I am incredibly fortunate to be living next to a health facility with antivenin available. That said, I am still afraid of snakes.
posted by quadrilaterals at 5:31 AM on May 28, 2018 [5 favorites]

I can recall being so terrified of bee stings, in early childhood, that I did not want to go outside. I can't imagine what it would be like, for children, to know that there were animals that would actually kill you, hanging around in the yard.
posted by thelonius at 5:37 AM on May 28, 2018

Damn, that's heartbreaking. Compare with Australia's response, especially the work of the late Struan Sutherland. Australia was able to fund long-term research to develop spider and snake venom antiserum. This work is where for-profit medicine absolutely falls down: the serums are highly specific, are based on manual collection of venom (fairly high on my nope list, no offence sneks), have a short active life and need to be available at short notice everywhere, to everyone.
posted by scruss at 6:32 AM on May 28, 2018 [4 favorites]