Snakebite envenoming is among the world's deadliest yet most overlooked tropical disease. The WHO has classified snakebite envenoming as one of 21 neglected tropical diseases, resulting in between 100,000 and 150,000 deaths worldwide each year. Three times as many survive with serious disabilities, including amputations and permanent tissue damage.
Snakebite victims are therefore dependent on antivenom, but the existing types have serious limitations: these include that they do not cover all medically relevant snake species and that they cannot always neutralize all medically relevant toxins found in snake venoms. This makes it difficult to provide correct and optimal treatment.
Now, an international team of researchers led by Professor Andreas Hougaard Laustsen-Kiel from DTU Bioengineering has developed a broad-spectrum antivenom against snake venoms, which shows impressive potential in laboratory studies. The antivenom covers a total of 17 different African snake species (including cobras, mambas, and rinkhals), provides better protection against tissue damage, has a lower risk of immune reactions, and, according to the researchers, can be produced at a lower cost than existing antivenoms.
The results have just been published in the renowned journal Nature and mark the culmination of several years of intensive research with a clear goal: to develop an antivenom that can make a real difference for snakebite victims.
"We have both a moral and global responsibility to contribute to solving this problem. It's great that DTU supports this kind of research and gives us the opportunity to work on some of the challenges facing the world-especially in Africa, where the problem is really acute," says Andreas Hougaard Laustsen-Kiel.
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 300,000 snakebite cases are recorded annually. More than 7,000 people lose their lives, while around 10,000 undergo amputations. The actual extent-also globally-is probably much greater, as many cases go unreported.Slangebid er en af verdens mest dødelige og samtidig mest oversete tropesygdomme. WHO har klassificeret slangebid som én af 21 negligerede tropesygdomme, som hvert år resulterer i mellem 100.000 og 150.000 dødsfald på verdensplan. Tre gange så mange overlever med alvorlige mén, herunder amputationer og permanente vævsskader.
