Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It is my understanding that Anti Lachetic Serum (Instituto Butantan) or Polyvalent Antivenom (Instituto Colodomiro) are the only anti-venoms used to treat bites from Lachesis sp. Recently I have heard rumors that CroFab has been used with some success and I was just wondering if anyone knew if there was any truth to this.

thanks

TW

In what country was it used? I heard no word on it nor have I heard of any Lachesis bites in the US. I would doubt any of the S.A. or C.A. countries would bother to use it, especially Costa Rica since the ICP works quite well.

IN fact, even with the import fees, and paperwork, my guess is that it's still much easier to get ICP, and I know its a heck of a lot cheaper.

I don't have any specifics on the country. It sounded a little strange to me, but one never knows.......

Hmmm, it should be effective to some degree, but depending on muta or stenophrys...I doubt it's as effective as ICP for stenophrys(based on info I've collected and bite reports). In talking to others who've had experience with the Butantan serum, apparently it's not that effective(a bad analogy would be that it's about as effective as water) so CROFAB might at least be worth trying on muta bites. I don't have any actual clinincal info to back that up though.

Interesting. I thought that the Butantan stuff was specifically manufactured for Lachesis bites. Do you know of any specifics of why it is not very effective?

Sorry....I think you were talking about stenophrys and not the genus.....haha. My bad.

From what I've found, it's anti-Bothrops/Lachesis. I don't know the specifics, but it was in converstations with Dean Ripa, that I recall him saying it wasn't very effective(or as effective as ICP). ICP has been very effective in his bites, and I know a case where someone in NY state was bitten maybe 6-7 yrs ago(again Dean told me) whom was treated with Wyeth with success.

In gathering info for my IND application to import ICP serum, I only researched clininal accounts for L. stenophrys bites treated with ICP antivenom, so there's probably some clinical accounts out there for muta bites.

This gets into the whole Lachesis toxicity question as well, so there is probably a reason....it could be that L. muta does not produce the same systemic reaction as L. stenophrys, and thus has a more myo-hemotoxic venom(e.g., similar to Bothrops asper) and if you tried to treat stenophrys bite with it....maybe it would appear to be ineffective??? I don't know..just trying to rationalize why it would appear ineffective.

The other thing, ICP costs $25/vial vs what $700-1000 for CROFAB? Also, there was the CROFAB shortage, so it doesn't seem logical that a foreign country would try to obtain it(unless it is vastly superior) but I don't know the cost of Butantan serum either.

Matt,
I thought Ripa was bitten several yrs ago in the states?
(by Lachesis).

I meant none recently that would've been treated with CROFAB.

Dean was bitten at least couple of years before Crofab was available.

Don't ever use a antivenom with just a rumor to base it on.
or you will be pushing dasiys up from the ground.
cro-flab works only for the species listed .
and if you did not know it does not work too good on southern
pacific rattlers.
for all the bragging and the extreme high price they want for it
I would be very carefull or use your brain and try to get innoculated before you mess with a deadly reptile.
just as south african poly does not work on all naja species
I have read people of actual higher learning tell posters
oh yes it covers snakes not listed in the product data sheet.
a dangerous game to play some one might die and they would be held liable for the bad recomendation.
a lot of hot air around here be carefull who you listen to.
my pennys worth
later
master of survival
Bud