Serum sickness is a type III hypersensitivity reaction that occurs due to the deposition of excessive circulating immune complexes in patients treated with foreign proteins or haptens. Serum sickness induced by antivenin for snakebites has been frequently reported in the USA, but not in Taiwan. This difference may be due to the efficacy and dosage of antivenins administered to treat snakebites ...

Nous avons lu avec beaucoup d’intérêt la lettre de Max Goyffon [2] qui expose le problème terrible de la pénurie d’antivenins dans le monde et des dizaines de milliers de morts évitables qu’elle entraine, indépendamment de l’arrêt annoncé du FAV-Afrique. Tout en abondant dans le sens du Pr Goyffon, nous aimerions ajouter quelques commentaires. Il est vrai que dans certains cas d’envenimations o...

This study describes the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of 655 cases of Bothrops snakebites that were attended by and/or notified to the Bahia Antivenin Information Center, State of Bahia, Brazil, in 2001. The annual incidence in the State was 5.0 cases/100,000 inhabitants and lethality was 1%. The incidence was greatest in the North Coast microregion (21.9/100,000 inhabitants) an...

The venom of South African scorpion Parabuthus transvaalicus contains a novel group of peptide toxins. These peptides resemble the long chain neurotoxins (LCN) of 60-70 residues with four disulfide bridges; however they are 58 residues long and have only three disulfide bridges constituting a new family of peptide toxins. Here we report the isolation and characterization of three new members of...

Classical immunization protocols have produced an antibody-based humoral response that is very effective against susceptible infectious diseases. Immunization introduces an external substance to induce the host immune system to respond specifically. Typically an antigen is used, but DNA, or a primed, pre-existing leukocyte or antigen-presenting cell, can also be used. Immunization is currently ...

Venomous snakebites are an important health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the largest venomous snake found in South and Southeast Asia. In this study, the O. hannah venom proteome and the venom components cross-reactive to N. kaouthia monospecific antivenin were studied. O. hannah venom consisted of 14 different protein families, including thr...

Our body must constantly deal with the threat that comes from potentially harmful and poisonous compounds both endogenous and exogenous in nature. Swiss physician Paracelsus (1493–1541) perhaps put it best when he stated that any compound is potentially toxic, as the “dose makes the poison.” These can be drugs, radiochemicals, or peptides/proteins that are introduced into the body either inadve...