University of Arizona researchers developing rattlesnake bite treatment
Apr 14, 2016, 8:00 AM
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — With summer right around the corner, Arizona residents will soon be joined by more than vacationers looking to get a taste of the golden hot sun.
Rattlesnakes will begin making regular appearances in the Valley, and researchers at the University of Arizona are working to develop a new treatment to combat the venomous bite of the predator.
The new treatment will aim to delay or prevent serious consequences from venomous snake bites, including rattlesnakes. Essentially, it will buy time for a person who suffered a rattlesnake bite.
It still needs to undergo “lengthy” lab and clinical trials before it can hit the market and officials hope it will be stocked in ambulances and first-aid kits to be easily accessible.
The leaders of the research, professor Dr. Vance Nielsen and toxicologist Dr. Leslie Boyer, aimed to prevent or delay the destruction of the blood-clotting protein fibrinogen to reduce a bleeding risk.
The treatment uses a combination of carbon monoxide and iron that could block the venom’s effects if used quickly after the bite.
“People may not die from (blood loss), but they may have bleeding into their brain or intestine, and they may require transfusions,” Nielsen said in a press release. “They may have a lot of serious consequences because of that bleeding.”
Nielsen, who began developing the treatment about a year ago, said it is “purely at the discovery and development phase,” according to the release.
Approximately 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes nationwide annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Out of those 8,000, about five or six people die from the bites.