Polyspecific snake antivenom may help in antivenom crisis

Abstract

In Africa snakebites cause thousands of deaths annually and much permanent physical disability, but the supply of antivenom, the only specific treatment, is threatened by commercial pressures and privatisation. This has been caused over the past few years by the cessation of antivenom manufacture by Behringwerke in Germany, greatly reduced production by Aventis Pasteur in France, and the threat to continued production by Africa's sole remaining producer, the African Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg.