[imagesource: Flickr / PhotoLanda]

Since it’s summer, snake season has been rearing its scaley head.

That means the mountains you hike, walk, and run on are seething with the slinky serpents and you have to be extra careful where you (and your dog) step.

The first port of call is obviously to avoid getting bitten, and the second port of call (if the snake manages a bite) is to rush to the vet or hospital to get a solid dose of snake antivenom.

The only thing is, if this happens in the coming months, you might not be able to get your hands on this life-saving elixir.

That’s because snake experts are raising the alarm over a shortage of South African-produced polyvalent snake antivenom, SA People reported.

The backlog is causing doctors to wait at least six months for orders of the vital snakebite treatment.

Produced in Johannesburg by the South African Vaccine Producers (SAVP), a subsidiary of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), the SAIMR Polyvalent Snakebite Antiserum SAVP is the gold standard for the treatment of venomous snake bites.

That includes snakebites from the Black Mamba, Green Mamba, Jameson’s Mamba, Cape Cobra, Forest Cobra, Snouted Cobra, Mozambique Spitting Cobra, Rinkhals, Puff Adder, and Gaboon Viper.

But doctors and veterinarians are not able to get their hands on the stuff very easily these days:

In the last few months, a massive production backlog at the SAVP has led to shortages at health facilities, especially among veterinarians, according to Johan Marais, herpetologist and CEO of the African Snakebite Institute.

“People’s dogs have died because for the last eight months veterinarians cannot buy antivenom. It really is a big problem,” said Marais.

Marais estimated that of the 3 500 people that are bitten by snakes in South Africa each year, 800 need hospitalisation, of which only about 10% require antivenom treatment.

Depending on the snakebite, treatments range from six to twenty vials per patient.

He said that there are usually around 10 snakebite deaths per year in our country.

Another problem is that Kenya and Senegal also buy snake antivenom from SA, with Kenya receiving 700 snakebite deaths per year – far more than South Africa.

Mike Perry, the founder of African Reptiles and Venom who supplies the SAVP with the raw snake venom used to produce the polyvalent antivenom, says that the venom he supplies in 2023 will only be part of the antivenom available in five years.

Besides the rigorous process required to produce this vital potion, load shedding is also negatively affecting antivenom production.

The SAVP has said it is “working around the clock” to reduce and ultimately eradicate the backlog of antivenom production, and antivenom banks have been strategically placed in high-risk areas across the country.

Still, your best bet is to wear thick long pants and high socks if you do go out into nature and avoid the cooler parts of the summer day when the snakes prefer to slither around.

[source:sapeople]