Mail & Guardian
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antivenomlatest news & developments
ANTIVENOM

From the hospital to the lab: How we reported the snakebite scandal

You might think of snakebite as a niche issue rather than a devastating one. But it is thought to kill somewhere between 80,000 and 140,000 people a year.

  • Paul Eccles
  • Fiona Walker
6 min read
AFRICA

eSwatini’s success against snakebites under threat after USAid funding freeze

Country that ‘achieved the impossible’ in reducing deaths to zero now faces closure of key treatment centre

  • Paul Eccles
4 min read
The African Snakebite Institution estimates that more than 4 000 people are bitten by snakes annually although only a quarter of them are admitted to hospital. Only 10% of those require antivenom treatment. (Photo by Kemal Karagoz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
ANTIVENOM

SA Vaccine Producers face delays in snakebite antivenom production

About 4 000 people are bitten by snakes annually but only a quarter of those being admitted to hospital and only 10% require antivenom

  • Umamah Bakharia
3 min read
Thea Litschka, the country’s only woman snake handler and founder of the eSwatini Antivenom Foundation.
ANTIVENOM

Snake handler comes to the rescue in eSwatini antivenom crisis

The country is facing a critical shortage of antivenom to treat the victims of snake bites

  • Nokukhanya Musi-Aimienoho
5 min read