Snake bite: Indigenous antivenom production project in limbo

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The plan to manufacture snakebite antivenom indigenously in Kerala is in limbo due to lack of coordination among departments. The High Court has directed the production of antivenom to be expedited for months, but there has been no action. A joint committee of the Forest, Health and Industries departments headed by the Chief Secretary should take action. However, no action has been taken yet to prepare even the project report.

The idea was to produce antivenom in collaboration with startup companies. The fact that no companies came forward due to the many hurdles including the drug control license was also a hindrance. The Forest Department is supposed to prepare the project report. Other departments are not showing much interest since they have not prepared it.

The Forest Department argues that priority should now be given to supplying the required amount of antivenom currently available in the market to hospitals rather than producing antivenom indigenously. The proposal to produce antivenom indigenously was made based on the finding that the venom of snakes in Kerala is more powerful and that the antivenom generally produced in the country is not effective.

The High Court had directed to expedite the process of producing antivenom indigenously in the context of a case taken up in the wake of the death of a student due to a snakebite at school. It was also directed to submit a progress report.

Antivenom is supplied to Kerala from the Irula Tribal Cooperative Society in Tamil Nadu and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. These are antidotes for the venom of cobras, Russell's Viper, Common krait, and saw-scaled viper snakes. However, these are not enough to combat the intense venom of Vipers, Striped Coral Snakes, etc. found in Kerala. No antidote has been found for snakes like the Hump nosed pit viper. The intensity of snake venom increases with the ambient temperature. That is why it has been suggested to produce antivenom in the state itself by extracting the venom of indigenous snakes.