Fuscus
Almost Legendary
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2003
- Messages
- 7,897
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^^^ Thanks for the replies.......but i havent looked into anything about anti venom etc, so i have no idea what you both have said! Im guessing though that you both have said that it doesnt matter if the snake is unknown, there is still anti venom that works?
Another explanation could be that P. textilis from some Qld populations are feeding on a particular (different) kind of prey that has resulted in some molecular change in the venom, and thus the antivenom doesn't bind as effectively.
Hmmm,
I'm moving to Warwick today, best I update my first aid skills and first aid box.
Terrible sad news that the woman past away. I would hope this helps somehow, maybe an inquest or simular as to why a hospital would only have one vile of anti venom and the snake was not identified through vdk or blood or urine sample.
Doesn't seem right, could just be a bad media report though.
Unidentified bites are determined with the VDK (as mentioned above), there is also a polyvalent antivenom which is effective against most of the medically significant genera.
If the species proves to be P. textilis, there is a very worrying trend starting to form here. For some unknown reason, people envenomated by P. textilis primarily from Qld, tend to respond poorly to antivenom therapy when compared to treatment stats for Vic or NSW. There may be a cryptic species involved here? Another explanation could be that P. textilis from some Qld populations are feeding on a particular (different) kind of prey that has resulted in some molecular change in the venom, and thus the antivenom doesn't bind as effectively.
Certainly an area that needs to be investigated.
Cheers all.
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