Snakebite victim wraps leg after applying medication. [Photo/peterslarson.com]Researchers are investigating the current antivenoms used in Kenya and other African countries following reports that most of them are ineffective against snake bites.
The team appointed by the World Health Organisation will table its report early next year, after two years of research.
“WHO urges regulators, producers, researchers, clinicians, national and regional health authorities, to work together to improve the availability of reliable epidemiological data on snake bites, the regulatory control of antivenoms and their distribution policies,” WHO says in a statement quoted by the Star.WHO has been prompted to order a wide-ranging study on antivenoms used in most African countries after several recent reports suggested that many of the anti-venom treatments in the market are useless and do not work against the poison.“The results of this detailed technical and laboratory assessment will be published in early 2018,” WHO adds.
The outcome, according to the Star, will provide important direction for Kenya, where a recent research found nearly all anti-venoms being sold locally to be ineffective.
The study was released in October by researchers from the Karen-based Institute of Primate Research, UK's Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and the University Costa Rica.
“None of the six antivenoms are pre-clinically effective, at the doses tested, against all of the most medically important snakes of the region. The very limited snake polyspecific efficacy of two locally available antivenoms is of concern,” revealed the study.
George Omondi, the head of the Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention Centre, took part in the study, published in the Plos One journal.
Snake Bite Rescue Rehabilitation and Research Centre Kenya founder Dr Winnie Bore recently confirmed the potency of anti-venoms was not assured.
“An estimated 33.3 percent of the patients lose their lives and the rest will become disabled at different degrees,approximately 5 percent will require amputation,” Bore told the Star on Tuesday.